“Accountability is strengthened when representatives are closer to the electorate. Knowing one’s representative and thereby having greater access to him/her, strengthens the voter/representative nexus.” By Daryl Swanepoel; CEO at Inclusive Society Institute The Constitutional Court, in June 2020, declared the current Electoral Act unconstitutional since it does not allow for independent candidates to stand for …
“There is clearly a tension between the imperative to have a fair and inclusive electoral system and having an electoral system which facilitates accountability. The Van Zyl Slabbert Report majority view proposed that ‘a preoccupation with accountability should not jeopardise the values of fairness, inclusivity and simplicity’. But the converse is also true.” By Lawson …
“Since the country is not forced to choose a new electoral system, is there any reason why it should want to do this?… … there is a problem with this sort of reasoning – and much of what we hear about electoral systems. It is based on armchair logic which makes sweeping statements about how …
Our concern was always about how to get the best constitutional system for our country. It was definitely not about how could we devise constitutional arrangements to maximise the chances of the ANC winning power at the first elections. On the contrary, in at least two respects we took decisions that we knew would reduce …
This 51st edition of Umrabulo Journal themed Electoral Systems and Reform comes at an opportune moment in light of continued debates brought to the fore, largely by the June 2020 Constitutional Court decision on what is termed the New Nation Movement’s case. In brief, the majority decision of the court found that aspects of the …