DA Member of Parliament Mr Alf Lees was asked about the importance of voting in South Africa. Here’s what he had to say:
South Africa today is a model for the world on how a country can, relatively peacefully and without a full-scale civil war, transform from a tyrannical government to a constitutional democracy that is based on the Liberal principles that protect the rights of every individual citizen first and foremost. A constitution that places checks and balances on what parliament and its executive (cabinet) may do. Unlike the apartheid regime that placed group identity ahead of individual rights and thus trampled on individual rights in order to promote the rights of the ‘white’ group. Through the protection of individual rights, our constitution protects the rights of all communities whether religious, cultural or other.
This constitutional democracy is a very fragile institution and must be protected by every South African at every turn. There are forces at play that would see the constitution either amended or put aside in order for the majority party to impose its will on all South Africans without regard to the impact on individual citizens. This view is very often heard in meetings in Parliament and is a frightening prospect for all South Africans.
South Africans were very fortunate that Nelson Mandela, the founding president of a democratic South Africa, had a full and passionate understanding of the need for a constitutional democracy that protects the rights of individuals. Indeed, it was a liberal concept that was not popular but cannot be dismissed without the danger of reverting to nationalism such as apartheid, Nazi Germany, Rwanda, Central African Republic, Bosnia and more recently, the Ukraine. Thus it was that South Africa became the darling of the world with a constitution that is reputed to be of the best in the world.
The Nkandla scandal is a very good example of the executive (cabinet) being held to account through the constitution by the opposition parties as well as the Public Protector.
Voters in South Africa have a responsibility to protect this hard-won constitution that can so easily be discarded if it is not protected. Voters have only one sure way of protecting the constitution and this is through their vote. However, it is not enough to simply go and vote! Every voter has to very carefully assess the political party for which they wish to vote to ensure that that party has a history of protecting the constitution and does not propagate policies that seek to amend or indeed undermine the very principles upon which the constitution is based. Parties that would nationalise mines and land can only do so if the South African constitution is discarded. This must not happen. Too many people gave their lives to achieve our constitutional democracy for voters to abandon this hard-won victory that protects every single South African from tyrannical government.
