What is needed to restore hope in South Africa?
In that our electoral system is based on proportional representation, no vote is wasted - each valid vote accrues to the party selected by the voter.
Beyond the often bewildering clamour of parties for voter support, only one factor needs to be considered, namely, the key to restoring faith and hope in our future.
That key is the criterion of merit. It must become the only basis upon which jobs, positions, promotions and procurements are allocated – not race, for there can be no substitute for competence.
B-BBEE, affirmative action, demographic representivity, cadre deployment and cronyism have to be abolished. Besides being discriminatory against minority groups and making a mockery of non-racialism, those practices have failed to reduce unemployment and, instead, have created an obscenely affluent elite and entrenched inequality.
Only then can a culture of competence flourish. Only then can governance improve. Only then will looting of state and municipal coffers cease. Only then will service delivery match rates and taxes.
The accompanying effects of merit as the cornerstone policy would result in the amendment and deregulation of labour laws which would facilitate job creation and ease unemployment.
Along with a cabinet reduced to just 16 ministers, smaller, reconfigured municipalities, privatisation of state owned entities, like Eskom, and with competence, accountability and transparency as the determinants of all aspects of government, prospects for a better South Africa are feasible. Only the Freedom Front Plus endorses this policy package.
——————-
SMALLER PARTIES ARE THE KEY TO OPPOSITION COALITIONS
Although we are a multi-party democracy, it is proclaimed by some that a vote for a smaller party is a wasted vote. It is time, therefore, to place that misconception in perspective.
In that our electoral system is based on proportional representation, no vote is wasted. Each valid vote accrues to the party selected by the voter. Seats in the national assembly and provincial legislatures are allocated to parties in proportion to the number of votes they received.
To date our electoral history shows that through coalitions, opposition parties have succeeded in wresting power from the ANC. Famously, Helen Zille became mayor of Cape Town in 2006 with a one seat majority. That single seat was provided by a councillor representing the Freedom Front Plus.
In that opposition to the ruling ANC is fragmented, it is politically irresponsible to attempt to rubbish smaller parties by claiming they are spoilers which deny larger opposition parties a clear run in opposing the ANC. Besides, voting is about supporting the party of one’s choice. It is not about manoeuvering parties into positions. That process takes place after the election among the parties elected.
Coalition-building among opposition parties with fairly common policies is the most positive way to challenge the ruling party. Helen Zille proved that in 2006.
DR DUNCAN DU BOIS
FREEDOM FRONT PLUS, KZN premier candidate
** THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN PAID FOR BY THE PARTY
