We are gripped in a coalition government mess X thanks to the proportional representation (PR) electoral system. Parties with a low percentage of votes are guaranteed to get seats in parliament. Why not? Power sharing is caring.
And with the 2024 national elections upon us, the fierce fight for power is between the ruling ANC party versus the rest. Or, more appropriately, the ANC versus the DA-led moonshot coalition partners. The Economic Freedom Fighters’ (EFF) troops are combat-ready on the extreme left side.
But come on, this electoral system was never the ANC’s first choice during the negotiations for democracy.
Kader Asmal, who was charged with the responsibility to draft the ANC’s electoral system, said that he was convinced that the first-past-the-post (FPTP) electoral system should continue. The winner should just take it all.
Of course, since 1948 the FPTP system came in handy for the National Party (NP), securing it 42% (or 79 seats) in parliament, despite its low share of votes.
This system proved to be the gift that keeps on giving in 1953, as the NP again won 60 seats with less than 50% of the votes, and 56 seats in 1989 with only 48% of the total votes.
But for the ANC, there was no ill-intent with the thought of FPTP, except the fear of coalition governments with over-represented minority parties in parliament. Then again, FPTP was going to exclude minorities, and the PR system triumphed as a compromise to primarily ensure inclusivity. At the time, Nelson Mandela said that it was “necessary to share power for a while.”
Today the ghost of this electoral system compromise is haunting us.
Coalition governments are a minefield of mistrust, egos, chaos, and instability. And there is no end in sight, shame.
Coalitions are here to stay, and so is political instability and governance failure. This mess comes as a package of the good, the bad, and the worst.
We are in for ideological mixed masala and bankruptcy. With conclusion of coalition pacts, the DA or EFF can suddenly morph into an ANC political ideology or vice versa. Just imagine. Real power will lie with minority parties that will hold larger parties to a give-and-take entanglement. Sad.
The recent inclusion of independent candidates to run in the national elections in 2024, is the last nail in the ailing service delivery coffin. Our municipalities are worn-out with endless political storms. Think of coalition casualties that include Nelson Mandela Bay, Tshwane, Johannesburg, and Ekurhuleni.
As a country, we may well be for the high jump.
But the PR system was supposed to be a passing arrangement. What happened?
Some divine intervention is needed. The ANC needs to save us from this coalition governments mess.
Achieving this will require that the party be reminded that “leadership is a matter of intelligence, trustworthiness, humaneness, courage, and sternness,” as Sun Tzu advised in The Art of War.
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Dr Mafole Mokalobe writes in his personal capacity.
