After 28 years of democracy, South Africa is having to reform its political party-based electoral system to make it fairer and in line with the constitution, by allowing independent candidates to contest national and provincial parliaments. A bill to amend the country’s electoral law accordingly is before parliament.
The present electoral system has underpinned the governing African National Congresses’ (ANC’s) dominance of the political system since 1994, not least by making individual MPs accountable to party bosses rather than the voters. This lack of accountability has facilitated the stunning level of corruption in the country.
