Amandla! magazine | Issue 84

ANALYSIS

The two key issues
Two issues drive this conflict. The first
relates to the doctrine of two centres of
power within all political parties. The
second is the resultant temptation to
maintain democratic centralism within
a party. Both of these ideas are often
exclusively associated with the African
National Congress (ANC). But by virtue
of political parties existing within a
PR system, all are afflicted in the same
manner.
The notion of two power centres
refers to the relationship between
an elected representative’s loyalty
to their party, on the one hand, and
their responsibility to the state and its
citizenry, on the other. Those elected to
be legislative representatives across all
levels of government remain first and

foremost accountable to the political party
that placed them in their position and can
subsequently remove them. As long as
this remains the case, the tension between
those elected by citizens and those elected
by party members will continue to exist.
The discord between these centres
has afflicted all parties. Proportional
representation remains an effective
tool to ensure broad representation. But
it incentivises political behaviour that
maintains an electoral system that favours
parties over citizens.
This helps bring to light the second
driver of this conflict of interest: the
presence of democratic centralism within
all parties. Democratic centralism is
generally understood as an organisation’s
ability to make the political decisions that
are voted upon, through a predefined and
accepted voting process, binding on all

the members of that organisation. While

dissent within a political party in South

Africa is generally considered palatable in

the short run, it remains intolerable in the

long run. Therefore, the imposition of a

constituency-based electoral system would

require a complete overhaul of the internal

logic of political parties. The ability to

dissent from the party’s position because

of the needs of your constituency would

be antithetical to how political parties

currently function within our country.

Our PR system places the party as

a central organising figure within our

political dispensation. This requires the

party to maintain strong control over its

membership, including those who happen

to be their public representatives. Some

parties may insist that dissent is welcomed

within their ranks, But as long as the party,

rather than the citizenry, determines your

position as an elected official, the entire

party system remains linked to democratic

centralism.

Constitutional constraints

A further complication to any electoral

reform in South Africa is our constitution.

Various provisions within the constitution

will inevitably constrain any proposed

reform. For instance, the constitution

states that a representative government

should generally embrace a system of

proportional representation. Furthermore,

it requires that provisions should be made

for the participation of minority political

parties within the legislature.

These two points create a unique

binding framework for the debates on

electoral reform. Any electoral system

within South Africa must include some

form of proportional representation, and

minority political parties must remain

represented. The ideal of both of these

provisions seems to be geared toward

avoiding the moral deficiencies of the

electoral system under apartheid. But

they also limit our ability to imagine a

different democratic order. They beg the

question of whether there is still a need

for our democracy to be underpinned

by proportional representation and

the maintenance of minority rights, if

such a system does not allow for a more

responsive government.

Have a referendum

The design of our constitution and the

nature of political parties makes any

electoral reform almost impossible. The

only avenue left to us to circumvent these

issues is seemingly that of a referendum.

A simple vote to be made by the country’s

citizens, not on whether a particular

political party should be elected, but rather

on what system of governance we want,

that we believe would be best for us. The

options for a referendum are currently

uncertain and would inevitably require the

acquiescence of our political parties. What

is clear is that the options should allow

citizens to choose a system that either

maintains the status quo or allows us,

and not our political parties, to introduce

a fundamentally new system of electoral

politics.

Rekgotsofetse Chikane is a lecturer

at the Wits School of Governance

and a researcher associate at the

Wits Institute for Socio-Economic

Research.

The design of our constitution and the nature of

political parties makes any electoral reform almost

impossible. The only avenue left to us to circumvent

these issues is seemingly that of a referendum.