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DEMOCRACY REFLECTIONS IN THE WAKE OF THE ELECTION OF 22 APRIL
2009
by
Mosibudi Mangena
21 May
2009
With the results of the election held on the 22nd April 2009
announced, there have been frequent calls by some commentators,
academics and journalists for those parties that did not do well
to disband, merge or otherwise disappear.
Some of us feel like kneeling down to pray to God to forgive
them, for they know not what they are saying. Those of us who
lived in Zimbabwe in the early eighties, during the euphoric
years following the attainment of independence, experienced this
kind of thing, where the academic and journalist types sneered
at, ridiculed and mocked anything that was not ZANU (PF).
Today, most of those who indulged in this game have fled
Zimbabwe, or have turned into virulent opponents of the ZANU
(PF) government. It is often true that when governance fails, it
is the intelligentsia that is first to make a run. And of
course, in the case of Zimbabwe, literally millions of every
class are fleeing their motherland.
The failure of politics and democracy, more often than not,
leads to the failure of everything. It leads to the failure of
education, health, economy, agriculture, transport, water
provision and so on. This might not be the case if this failure
is replaced by a large percentage of the population.
In a country as diverse as South Africa, we should celebrate the
multiplicity of political parties as a blessing, and not bemoan
it as a curse. In addition to the three broad racial groups, we
have a further diversity in language, ethnicity and religion. We
are also one of the most unequal societies in the world, and the
divide is largely along racial lines.
Every initiative by our people to organize themselves to contest
peacefully whatever issues are dear to them should be welcomed.
Let a thousand ideas bloom and contend with others for space or
votes.
It takes a very small group of people who feel alienated or
otherwise shut out, to create serious problems in any democracy.
Examples abound all over the world in history, but also in our
own country. The Pagad and Boeremag episodes must be an
indication of what happens when any group, big or small, feels,
rightly or wrongly, marginalized by the normal political
processes. This tells us that we should always strive to include
and not exclude groups or parties on the basis of size,
especially in a country with as many fault lines as South
Africa.
The proportional representation electoral system we have chosen
is well suited and accommodative of this line of thinking.
Unlike the first-past-the-post system, very few votes are lost
in the list system.
As we might know, the entire mainland Europe employs the PR
system, whilst Britain and its former colonies adhere to the
constituency system.
Some of us might be aware of the frequent formation of coalition
governments in countries such as Japan, Israel and many other
countries in central Europe that use the PR system. This is due
to the fact that they often produce hung parliaments due to the
multiplicity of parties represented in such parliaments, with
some large enough to rule on its own. Such democracies are
usually less prone to violent instabilities.
Coming back to the recent elections in our country, it should be
fair to point out that it is unwise to make firm conclusions on
the basis of one or two elections. These may be a tiny flash in
the history of a people. Fifteen years ago ZANU (PF) was almost
invincible at the polls. What is the situation now? Twenty years
or so ago, the BCM was the only political show on the road, with
adherents of the Freedom Charter and Pan Africanists hanging out
its apron. Some of us, especially during the June 1976 uprising
were asking where these older organizations and their armies
were hiding as our people faced the bullets of the regime with
bare chests.
Those who call on certain parties to disband or merge, may be as
unwise and short-sighted as we were when we dismissed the older
liberation movements as ineffectual and therefore irrelevant.
Let us now turn to some of the features of this election which
many of us believe had a profound influence on the outcome, at
least on opposition parties.
Firstly, the emergence of COPE energized the ANC immensely. Even
those who were in a political coma woke up to campaign and
contribute with vigour and determination. And they had the
resources to oil a huge effort that sought to drown everything
else.
Secondly, there was too much money in this election. Some of us
can see a correlation of the amounts spent by various parties
and the outcome thereof.
In South Africa, both the state and the private sector, in a
grossly disproportionate manner, put money into political
parties. This distorts the political environment badly, not only
during elections, but even in between.
Many democracies all over the world have recognized the dangers
of too much money to their political systems and have introduced
legislative measures to control it. Too much unregulated money
does not only introduce risks of corruption, it also makes it
difficult for parties to participate or new parties to enter the
political space.
Thirdly, COPE did not only draw votes from the ANC, as most of
us had thought. It is clear that many opposition parties bled as
a result of the formation of COPE.
Fourthly, the legal issues faced by the leader of the ruling
party forced many in our nation to take a stand one way or the
other. There were those who felt … he was a victim of
wrongdoing, and those who did not sympathise with him.
Those political parties that did not take a strong and activist
position on this matter, could not tap into this emotive issue
with the voters, and they paid the price.
Of course there were also internal factors, in various political
parties that had an impact on elections outcome. Most of those
are really not amenable to handling in a forum like this. In
AZAPO, at least, we recognize these and will be attending to
them as best we can.
Finally, when I was about to leave Zimbabwe, where I lived in
exile for thirteen years, in 1994 to come back home, a friend of
mine called Ibbo Mandaza,said: “ You South Africans must go home
and build strong opposition politics. That way you will avoid
pitfalls of Africa and form a beacon of hope for the continent.”
At the time, Mandaza was a hardboiled ZANU (PF) cadre. He was
right then, and he continues to be right even this day.
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