Opportunity for electoral reform is now – IRR

The time is ripe to reform South Africa’s electoral system and make it responsive to the needs of South Africans.

So says the Institute of Race Relations (IRR), which this week made a submission to the Electoral Reform Consultation Panel (ERCP) on how the system could be improved.

Marius Roodt, IRR analyst and writer, says the submission lays out the problems with the current amended Electoral Act, and provides two alternative proposals for a new electoral system for South Africa.

“The existing electoral system, which was first used in the May elections, is an awkward one, as it contains the logical absurdity of allowing individuals to stand in a party-list proportional system. There are also a number of other problems with the system, notably in the seat calculations. We cannot use it again for the next national election in five years’ time,” says Roodt.

The IRR has suggested that the ERCP consider one of two new electoral systems, either of which would allow for the direct election of representatives, while retaining the requirement of proportionality in the electoral system, as required by the Constitution.

Says Roodt: “The first proposal is to simply ramp up the system we use at municipal level to national and provincial level, where people vote for a single representative, while having a number of top-up seats to ensure proportionality.

“The second proposal is to use the system suggested by the Van Zyl Slabbert Commission in the early part of this century, where South Africa would be split into a number of multi-member constituencies, along with a number of top-up seats, again to ensure proportionality.”

Roodt adds that either of these systems would work well, with both retaining proportionality while allowing people to directly vote for their representatives.

Roodt concludes: “The current electoral system is, frankly, a muddle. We cannot use it for the next election. There is now ample time for other systems to be considered and implemented before the next poll. The time for electoral reform is now."

The IRR’s submission can be read here.

Media contact: Marius Roodt Tel: 082 779 7035 Email: marius@irr.org.za

Media enquiries: Michael Morris Tel: 066 302 1968 Email: michael@irr.org.za