GOOD opposes DA and ANC’s call to increase the number of seats in Western Cape Legislature

9 February 2020

The ANC in the Western Cape has confirmed its support for a DA proposal to increase the number of politicians in the Western Cape Provincial Parliament.

The DA has proposed a 24-43% increase in the number of seats in the provincial legislature.

GOOD’s Brett Herron, a member of the Western Cape Provincial Legislature, has announced that his party will not support this call. “Even though our party would benefit most from the additional seats, we cannot support this proposal to increase government expenditure by creating more positions for politicians” he said. 

GOOD’s Herron represents nearly 62,000 voters – the most of any seat and far more voters than any ANC (49 088) or DA (47 527) member of provincial legislature.

Herron said that “it is ludicrous to even consider this proposal to increase the budget for politicians when 6,000 children do not have schools or teachers and hundreds of thousands still await housing.”

The DA and ANC’s motivation to increase the number of politicians on the payroll is that the population of the Western Cape has increased – from about 3.9 million in 1994 to more than 6 million today.

The DA and ANC seem to believe that taxpayers should therefore fund a greater number of seats for politicians. The DA’s provincial leader, MEC Madikizela, has suggested that seats in his Western Cape Government should increase from the current 42 seats to between 52 and 60 seats. Madikizela believes it is ‘unfair’ to expect the same number of politicians to serve these growing constituencies.

GOOD does not support this call nor agree with the motivations put forward for this.

Increasing populations are a worldwide phenomenon, but so is increasing technology. New technology is enabling people to do a lot more, much faster, than before. Politicians could work smarter and more efficiently – if they choose to. Herron said that “It frustrates me that government officials tell me that, in 2020, there are still provincial politicians who do not use email or electronic calendars!”

“In the era of the Internet, Facebook, Emails, WhatsApp and other electronic media –technology that was not available in 1994 – it is easily possible to communicate with a far wider constituency than it was when one needed to rely on handwritten letters in the post. Politicians in the old parties must get with the times” he said.

Additional seats will also mean additional salaries – costs the province cannot afford. Last year the Province’s Education Department slashed its budget for teachers. This year, 6,000 pupils do not have teachers.  Hundreds of thousands of families in our province remains without formal housing or basic services. Herron said that “asking for more salaries for politicians when we cannot even employ enough teachers is immoral and simply cruel. Any debate about it shows how completely out of touch these people are with the real situation in our country.” 

Lastly, the increased number of seats would require a Constitutional Amendment.

Mark Rountree, GOOD’s National Policy Officer, said that “The DA’s proposal to increase the number of seats for provincial politicians would likely triggering a knock-on effect across the country, causing rising government costs for every province”.  GOOD promised to work to reduce government expenses and Rountree confirmed that “the proposal to increase the number of paid politicians in the Western Cape is not aligned to the promises we made to the country.”

Issued by Brett Herron, Secretary General, GOOD, 9 February 2020