Let's elect Mayors and Premiers
Can you imagine the constitutional crisis if the National assembly passed a motion of no-confidence in the president, elected the leader of the opposition in his place and the president then refused to vacate his office? That is exactly the situation in Tlokwe (Potchefstroom that was). The Court is deciding whether to set the council decision aside on the technicality of whether the meeting was properly called. There was only one candidate, the DA, and the majority of the councillors supported her but that does not concern the ANC. The party dictates.
Taken together with the firing and rumoured firings of premiers of provinces, this raises an important question. Is it good enough in a constitutional democracy for city councillors (whether ward or proportional) to be obliged to take instruction from the party, rather than from the voters in electing the mayors of all our towns and cities? Should the premiers of all the provinces be named by the party or in the case of the ANC, by President Zuma?
The time has come when we should consider refining our electoral system to provide for the direct election of mayors and of premiers by the voters. Those elected would then have a direct mandate from the people and would be answerable to the people. Of course the parties would play a vital role in the process; a person would need the backing of the party to secure its nomination in the first place and voters are inclined to trust their own party, voting for the candidate supporting the general attitude, approach and policies of the party of their choice.
If a mayor or premier, once elected, made too many mistakes, the ideal would be for the voters to throw her or him out at the next election. But if the situation became too bad, there ought to be a mechanism whereby voters might recall the mayor or premier and force an early election for that post. Someone accused of serious criminal conduct, abuse of power, corruption, personal conduct that is unbecoming, or incapacity and inability, should not be able to remain in office for years if the party sits on its hands and does nothing.
In Tlokwe the ANC mayor no longer enjoys the support of his fellow councillors. There are serious allegations about him which need to be proved but something caused his fellows to lose confidence in him and want him out. The ANC has allowed this situation to carry on for a year. Eventually, in desperation and for the second time, the councillors elected the DA's Annette Combrink as mayor.
The South African Communist Party which owes no allegiance to the voters because it does not fight elections, described their action as ‘an unforgivable crime towards this revolution.' The ANC will do everything it can to unseat Mayor Combrink and restore the allegation-tainted Mr Maphetle Maphetle to office.
It would be so much better to have a special mayoral election with voters deciding whom they want as mayor, rather than having a hack foisted on them because the party is determined to prove who is the boss.
Douglas Gibson is former Opposition Chief Whip and ambassador to Thailand. He can be followed on Twitter @dhmgibson.
This article first appeared in The Citizen.
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