Time to make politicians listen – IRR
30 October 2024
South Africa has a golden opportunity to choose an electoral system that ensures that the country’s representatives in parliament listen to the people who put them there.
So says the Institute of Race Relations (IRR) ahead of the deadline for public comment on electoral reform.
Tomorrow is the final day to make submissions to the Electoral Reform Consultation Panel (ERCP) which will examine possible reforms to our electoral system.
Says IRR analyst and writer, Marius Roodt: “The electoral system that South Africa currently uses has a number of advantages, notably the very high level of proportionality achieved, with the proportion of legislative seats a party is awarded very closely matching its overall proportion of the vote. However, as noted by the chair of the ERCP, party bosses have more control over who goes to Parliament than voters and this needs to change.