Sadly, true democracy still remains elusive in our country

Well – surprise, surprise, surprise. The ANC’s MPs have rejected an amendment to our electoral laws which would have made each one of them more directly accountable to the voters of South Africa.

The amendments would have been some of the most fundamental changes to society since 1994, because they would have moved the country across towards a constituency electoral system and may have even opened the door to direct election of a president.

Into the dustbin of history would have gone our current proportional representation system, where parties are allocated parliamentary seats according to the number of votes they win. In turn, the parties draw up lists of candidates to fill those seats. The higher you are on the list, the better chance you have of becoming an MP.

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The proportional representation system was certainly an appropriate choice for our first democratic election, as the country moved away from apartheid and the vast majority of people still had to get used to the idea they could wield power through the ballot box.

However, it should only ever have been a temporary measure, with the eventual goal being to allow people to vote for people in the area they live.

This allows the particular concerns of groups of voters to be conveyed to national government and raised in a national forum such as parliament. It also means that the constituency representative will always know that his or her constituents are watching and will, therefore, be much more accountable than a faceless person from a party list.

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Yet, as we have come to know painfully, the ruling ANC’s kryptonite is accountability. Party list system MPs have no incentive to do anything other than bench-warm. And the concept provides the ANC with a useful tool for rewarding loyalty.

Sadly, true democracy still remains elusive in our country.