Now that the political parties have submitted their candidates’ lists to the Electoral Commission for the general elections, the question is: where are the citizens of South Africa? Were they contacted and consulted, and did they have any role in nominating candidates for the national and provincial assemblies? The answer is no.
South African voters remain disempowered from directly choosing members of Parliament — except that in the upcoming general elections, for the first time, independent candidates will be contesting alongside party candidates.
The citizens of South Africa do not run political parties and are not responsible for their day-to-day operations and activities.
Why can voters not choose their members of Parliament? Why must citizens be given premiers without the right to choose their preferred candidates?
The State Capture inquiry report delivered by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo implicated more than 90 ANC leaders and members in wrongdoing.
These include Gwede Mantashe, the ANC national chairperson; Zizi Kodwa, the minister of arts and culture; and Thabang Makwetla, the deputy defence minister. Citizens have no say over who is included in the candidate lists.
Where is power to the people in this case?
It is power to the party headquarters, with no say from the citizens. Thirty years since the end of apartheid, black voters still do not enjoy a right that whites had under apartheid — the right to directly elect or remove their members of Parliament in their constituencies.
The rule by party headquarters since 1994 has made citizens dependent on political parties, leading to corruption inside political parties that has spread throughout South Africa, destroying Eskom, Transnet, Prasa, the Post Office, PetroSA, water treatment plants and road infrastructure.
The powerlessness of the people has led to the destruction of South Africa’s economic and social infrastructure. Voters are powerless to remove corrupt or incompetent members of Parliament.
We need to give power to the people. We need citizens to have the right to directly elect their own members of Parliament on the basis of one citizen, one vote. The president, premiers and mayors should be elected on the same basis of one citizen, one vote rather than through appointments made by political parties. The taxpayers who are responsible for the salaries of politicians are excluded from directly choosing them.
When will we wake up and reform our undemocratic system of voting? The fact that for the first time in 30 years there will be independent candidates contesting the elections alongside party appointees should be the beginning of a mass campaign for total reform of our electoral system.
Let us call for power to the people — and not party appointees. DM