The only way to address South Africa’s problem of dwindling voter turnout is to fix the accountability problem. (File photo/MG)
South Africans can agree that we desperately need a system that makes our elected representatives accountable to them, the voters, not a political party.
The country’s electoral system, set out in the Electoral Act, 1998 (as amended), is responsible for this. It determines how our votes get used to decide how many seats in parliament go to which political party and how those political parties decide which member to give that seat to.
The Electoral Reform Consultation Panel is currently considering if (and how) South Africa’s current electoral system contained in the Act should be changed.
The panel is holding a public consultation at the Gauteng Provincial Legislature on Monday, 27 January 2025. It is critical that the public participate.
Why should South Africans care?
In a previous piece, the FW de Klerk Foundation set out the pros and cons of the three main different electoral system options available.
Our country’s current proportional representation (PR) electoral system, while fair and encouraging of diverse representatives, does nothing to fix this accountability problem. In fact, it encourages it, as under the PR system, elected representatives are appointed by their party, making them more accountable to their political party, than to the electorate.
It also fails to meet other constitutional requirements, such as responsiveness and openness.
Fix the accountability problem
It is submitted that the only way to address South Africa’s problem of dwindling voter turnout is to fix the accountability problem.
We need a new system to do this and by doing so, restore public trust in our democracy.
Such a new system, besides adhering to the Constitution’s requirements, must also prevent a situation in which state-capture can ever arise again by ensure that parliament can fulfil its oversight function.
To do so, it must prevent parliament from ever again being controlled by the executive. Now that independent candidates are allowed, a new system must also create a level playing field between them and political parties.
For these reasons, the FW de Klerk Foundation supports a mix between the current PR system (because we need fairness and diverse representation) with the First-Past-The-Post Majority System (because we need the accountability that comes from a direct link between a geographical district’s voters and that district’s elected representative).
Such a mixed system can have 150 seats out of parliament’s 400 seats awarded on a PR basis, with 250 seats awarded to those who win a seat in each of the 250 single member constituencies.
This makes parliament directly accountable to its electorate, with voters having both a direct link to, and the ability to recall underperforming,representatives. This will increase accountability and responsiveness, resulting in the public’s trust being restored in the democratic system, which, in turn, will increase voter turnout.
A very long temporary system
This current PR system was initially supposed to be only a temporary system.
It was first instituted by the Interim Constitution,1993 (in terms of which the 1994 elections were held) and requires parliament to be elected in accordance with the “system of proportional representation” (see section 40(1)). In contrast, the Final Constitution, 1996 states that the electoral system must only result “in general, in proportional representation” (see sections 46(1) and 105).
Back in 2003, the Van Zyl Slabbert Electoral Task Team proposed changing the electoral system to a form of the mixed system. They even drafted bills.
Changing to a mixed system was mentioned again in 2017, in the High Level Panel on the Assessment of Key Legislation and the Acceleration of Fundamental Change. Then again in 2022 by Former Chief Justice Zondo in the State Capture Report. Then there was the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Electoral Reform in 2021.
The importance of participating
While historical attempts to change the current PR system have failed, South Africa is a participatory democracy.
With the panel now considering the issue afresh, the public must ensure that parliament understands that it can no longer postpone changing to a mixed system.
The FW de Klerk Foundation encourages all citizens to be part of the conversation – and to stay in it – until we see the change needed to fix the accountability problem. The public should, therefore, grab every chance to participate, of which Monday’s consultation is one.
Daniela Ellerbeck writes on behalf of the FW de Klerk Foundation.