When the primary architects of South Africa’s democratic order, Cyril Ramaphosa and Roelf Meyer, sat down in 1993 they could not have imagined that their baby, borne of compromise, would so dismally fail South Africa.
While our Parliament cloaks itself in majesty and occasionally pats itself on the back, the body can’t do its work because the political system in which it operates means that the ruling party, in this instance the ANC, has almost unfettered control.
This week, Parliament was in the spotlight at the state capture inquiry. South Africans got a first-hand glimpse at how parliamentarians neglected their duty of holding the executive to account. Deputy Transport Minister Dikeledi Magadzi, previously the chairperson of Parliament’s portfolio committee on transport, admitted the failure of her committee in exercising the most basic oversight.
Instead of probing allegations that the Guptas had muscled in and manipulated a R51 billion tender for the supply of rolling stock to the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa, Magadzi dismissed the reports.
Now five years later, asked about her actions, she said: “When we are in Parliament, I’m not in Parliament as myself (sic) … I am representing the ANC, therefore, I will always and every time make sure I toe the party line. That is exactly what I did,” she said.
She was simply following an instruction from the ANC at Luthuli House. Her failure to adhere to these instructions would have been seen as indiscipline, and her removal from the lucrative position would have been swift.
This practice is, unfortunately, part of South Africa’s political culture, especially where one party dominates, like the DA in the Western Cape. Just ask Patricia de Lille.
To fix this accountability gap, our current system of governance needs to change. Instead of general elections which allocate seats in Parliament, we should have separate elections (call it presidential) for the executive and legislative branch, that do not coincide.
This might not be a silver bullet, but would surely keep members of the executive branch on their toes.
The Star