Electoral system must change to enable youth of South Africa to have a presidential choice.
The research conducted by Pondering Panda company shows that the democracy in South Africa is maturing and electoral systems must change to allow such maturity of democracy to take place. Congress of the People Youth Movement is advocating for First the Past Post Electoral System or constituency based electoral system where President, Premiers, Mayors and Councilors would be directly elected other than electing a party that is not accountable to the people post national and local Government elections.
The research shows that people aged between 18 and 34, 41% of youth rejected both candidates while Motlanthe was preferred over Zuma to be the ANC president. This glaringly shows that the youth that is not attached to the ANC is deprived a right to choose who their president should be on the basis of current electoral system that imposes different political parties to the electorate as a result the party that garners more votes decide for the whole nation who its president, premiers, mayors and councilors must be.
The current electoral system destroys an aspect of accountability by public representatives to the public because the electorate doesn’t have power to recall incompetent people deployed by these parties because the power lies with the political parties.
What is clearly emerging in South Africa is typical of regnant democracy where a political party, because of its continued political dominance over nearly two decades, is substantially blurring the lines between government, ruling party and the state. As a result of politicization many municipalities are dysfunctional and because of crony governance relationships among the political elite, corruption has become endemic as a whole.
If the citizens are not keenly alive to the political situation that is now developing in the country, the people will, to their perpetual disadvantage and loss, allow the resultant one party dominant system to erode civic liberty, suppress information, muzzle the press, undermine judiciary, denude the legislatures of its oversight authority and establish a political hegemony that will see the entrenchment of a government over the people than a government by the people, for the people and with the people.
The current electoral system is the one that informs political elitism where moral values, human compassion and solidarity have all dissipated in the pursuit of power and material gains. All of these problems have their genesis in a political organization and when voted into power they become endemic in society at large.
For further inquiries please contact
Abel Rangata Nqaba Bhanga
Sec. General of COPEYM President of COPEYM
071 4650 335 078 243 4643
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