“Get in and stay in the streets of every city, every village and hamlet of this nation until true freedom comes, until the revolution of 1776 is complete. We must get in this revolution and complete the revolution.” – Congressman John Lewis, the American civil rights movement stalwart who died on July 17 2020.
The constitutional negotiations which gave birth to the new South Africa ended without a final chapter, the one about voters also being able to give their ballot to individual candidates who will represent them in Parliament.
Without this fundamental democratic right, the present Electoral Act has handed all political power to party bosses who alone decide who goes to Parliament and provincial legislature.
Under the act, we vote for parties and not candidates.
While political parties may have been happy with this arrangement, it effectively diluted our democracy because South African voters have until now had little say in who their individual political representatives are in Parliament.
Something clearly had to be done about the current system.
That was decided in the Constitutional Court because political parties were not willing to surrender the stranglehold that empowered them to decide who would be deployed in Parliament.
As a grassroots movement of concerned citizens, the New Nation Movement (NNM) went to the Constitutional Court to ask that part of the Electoral Act be declared unconstitutional.
In essence, we were asking for those sections which deny ordinary citizens the right to choose their representatives to be declared unlawful.
The resulting judgment on the unconstitutionality of the act, in as far as independent candidates are concerned, has been seen by many as one of the critical instruments to resuscitate those hopes and dreams that have been deferred.
At last we, the people, will be heard. The monopoly of political parties has been broken.
As much as it is necessary to allow Parliament the space to do its job, it would be naive for any South African to think that now is time for us to rest on our laurels.
That last chapter of South Africa’s road from an apartheid state to democracy is on the cusp of being written, completing the country’s journey to full democracy.
That chapter will be about South Africans exercising their hard-won political right to vote for individuals to represent them in Parliament.
We as the NNM know that the Constitutional Court’s judgment is now in the hands of Parliament to change the Electoral Act.
They have 24 months in which to do this.
As much as it is necessary to allow Parliament the space to do its job, it would be naive for any South African to think that now is time for us to rest on our laurels.
If anything, now is the time for every South African who is a nation-builder and who loves this country to take up this cause and become part of framing and shaping a new electoral system and, critically, help keep Parliament accountable to deliver to voters the option to choose independent candidates.
There are several ways one can be involved. As the NNM, we intend to continue this battle by putting a number of interventions in place.
One of those is to have a parliamentary monitoring team to ensure that the nation is being kept in the loop as we monitor the progress over the next two years.
This team will comprise of highly experienced individuals with expertise in various fields.
Our own public participation process is also on the cards.
If we see the need to engage the courts again, we will do so to ensure that the judgment does find the practical expression and application it deserves.
We are calling on all South Africans to journey with us in this endeavour to change our country.
The Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic and the hold on power by the bosses of political parties represented in Parliament may, together, represent the darkest hour before dawn in our country.
This battle is not the NNM’s alone, but that of the nation as a collective.
Remember, no individual or group can turn things around in this country. It will take a collective effort to bring real and tangible change.
Just as the Constitutional Court process was a non-violent one, we have an opportunity to show that we are united in taking action that we can all own and be proud of.
The Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic and the hold on power by the bosses of political parties represented in Parliament may, together, represent the darkest hour before dawn in our country.
But change is in our hands. Let’s seize the moment and together build a new nation.
As we say in the NNM, as citizens in a democracy, we are the solution. We are passionate about our country and all its diversity, pain and potential.
Join us in changing the shape of our democracy.
We have come so far and there’s no turning back. The Electoral Act will change and so will South Africa.
This is just the beginning.
- Mkholiswa is the national coordinator of the New Nation Movement
OPINION: Bulelani Mkholiswa
