READER LETTER | Multi-party decision-making fair

From left, Modiri Desmond Sehume of the United Christian Democratic Party, Prince Nkwana of the Unemployed National Party, John Steenhuisen of the DA, Prof Jannie Rossouw, Velenkosini Hlabisa of the IFP, Dr Zukile Luyenge of the Independent South African National Civic Organisation, Herman Mashaba of ActionSA, Winston Coetzee of the Spectrum National Party, Neil de Beer of the United Independent Movement, and Mahlubi Madela of the Ekhethu People's Party at the Multi-Party Charter press conference in Durban on January 24 2024.
From left, Modiri Desmond Sehume of the United Christian Democratic Party, Prince Nkwana of the Unemployed National Party, John Steenhuisen of the DA, Prof Jannie Rossouw, Velenkosini Hlabisa of the IFP, Dr Zukile Luyenge of the Independent South African National Civic Organisation, Herman Mashaba of ActionSA, Winston Coetzee of the Spectrum National Party, Neil de Beer of the United Independent Movement, and Mahlubi Madela of the Ekhethu People's Party at the Multi-Party Charter press conference in Durban on January 24 2024.
Image: Gallo Images/Darren Stewart)

The SA government has failed in all departments and it keeps on talking about the failure. And there is no plan, no action after that. There won't be any democracy when it's a one-party parliament decision-making body.

One party decisions don't make a democratic decision. Multiplicity is needed in a democracy. Majority of nos and votes don't make the decisions taken to be democratic. The fairness of the system makes decisions to be democratic. The party political toeing of decisions towards party philosophy is never democratic. The mass decision-making between the different parties  is democracy.

As different modes of people will be represented. Parliament should be for engagements and debates on issues at hand. Not for decision-making. Those deliberations should go to a higher body, comprising of equal party representatives, who should do the final deliberation per se. Then the matter should be passed on to the judicial body, who will authorise the law to stand after having deliberated on it with reference to the constitution and the bill of rights in reference to the people of SA.

Themba Brown, Soweto


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