BOSA launches campaign to secure direct election of the President and Members of Parliament
17 September 2024
Taking the fight for electoral reform into the seventh Parliament was one of Build One South Africa’s (BOSA) key electoral pledges. A new electoral system that improves accountability, attracts expertise and talent, and improves governance is urgently required if South Africa is to thrive and prosper.
This process has been underway for four years now following the Constitutional Court’s 2020 ruling in the New Nation Movement judgment which found the system by which we vote for and elect our leaders to be unconstitutional. A new law was passed in a scurry last year, with a vital clause committing to review the law after the 2024 elections.
The Electoral Reform Consultation Panel (ERCP) has now been constituted and has asked for written submissions for its consideration on proposals on why, how and whether the current South African electoral system should be reformed, changed, or even replaced. The deadline is 30 September 2024, in just two weeks time.
BOSA will make detailed, written submissions arguing for (1) a constituency-based system that allows for Members of Parliament to be directly elected – and held directly accountable – by citizens instead of political parties; and (2) for the direct election of the President of the Republic in a presidential election.
We have today launched two petitions asking South Africans to support these calls, and will be submitting those signatures and comments alongside our submission. It will take the voice of the people to apply the requisite pressure, as political parties have been dragging their feet over the past four years in an attempt to avoid making the wide-reaching changes needed.
These very changes are advocated in the Zondo Commission report, which made recommendations to change the way in which South Africans elect their President and their Members of Parliament in Part VI Vol. 4 of the report.
The report recommends a constituency-based system whereby MPs are directly elected by their constituency. This would greatly enhance clean governance and accountability as MPs would derive their power and mandate from the people, not a political party. This has been the recommendation of countless commissions and reports over the last two decades.
Secondly, the report recommends the direct election of the President – as like in many developed countries. This would mean voters can directly elect and remove the President – ensuring the most competent person is elected to lead South Africa.
BOSA is committed to meaningful and substantive electoral reform to change the current broken system. We strongly advocate for full electoral reform, encompassing a constituency-based system whereby we the people can directly choose our leaders instead of political parties imposing their politicians on us.
South Africans deserve to choose the best of the best for our government: doctors, nurses, schoolteachers, activists, entrepreneurs, miners, factory workers, IT experts, academics, environmentalists, businesspeople, and governance specialists - people who work hard, know how to get things done, and want to see South Africa thrive. And we can only do this through a new electoral system.
Issued by Roger Solomons, BOSA Acting Spokesperson, 17 September 2024
