A sad unicorn and Black Friday: Why we need better politicians

I’m not a fan of Black Friday.

It seems to me that it is a bit of a scam to get us to buy things that we don’t really need and that the retailers want us to believe are bargains, when in fact they are not. (Credit, however, to Exclusive Books).

They were one of the very few shops that had a proper sale this year – 75% off a wide range of books. I have to confess that I find it very hard to resist books. My favorite past time is to sit in a book shop and browse. It feels to me like a holy place – all the ideas and knowledge amongst the pages. Remember the scene in City of Angels, where the angels live in the libraries? Well, I get that! 

So unsurprisingly I bought bags full of books from the sale. However, slightly surprising, I bought mainly children’s books… for my grandchildren. Grandchildren, I hasten to add, which have not been born (or as far as I know, conceived yet).

Later that night, I got lost in the delights of “The Sad Unicorn” (which teaches kids to do deep breathing), “Kiwicorn” (who discovered that being different is awesome), “Greta and the Giants” (inspired by Greta Thunberg), “Insults aren’t funny” (about bullying) and “Oupa Mandela (well, you get that one, right?).

As I was dreaming about a future where I would read these books to a little person, I started to wonder what that future would hold for my grandchildren.

What would South Africa look like?

Would they feel a sense of belonging that would inspire them to make a home for them and their children here?

I suddenly felt a bit like the “Sad Unicorn”.

I love this country. I love the way it smells, the way the air feels on my skin… the people. Whilst living abroad I became intensely aware that my genetic fiber is part of the soil of the country of my birth - that this is where I feel most alive.   

Which was why I was so excited and felt so privileged to have been part of the 1994 transition. The sense of a new beginning, of justice prevailing, of hope and of a new possibility… it was simply exhilarating.  

But these days I often find more tears than joy.

When I watch the racial divide widening in Brackenfell and Senekal, when I read the anti-white and Indian narratives on WhatsApp groups, when I see the economic inequalities growing, my heart contracts with anxiety.

It infuriates me when, amongst all of this, so many political role players - driven only by blind ambition, personal interest, and financial gain - display a terrible lack of leadership.

We have to do better as a country and to do that we need to start with getting better politicians. Politicians who want to build a better country and who are not in politics because of egos or prestige. Above all, they need to be accountable to those who voted for them to be there.  

To do that we have to start with the electoral system.

It is important to remember that there were very good reasons why we adopted the current party-list electoral system, prior to the 1994 elections.   

It was designed to ensure amongst others the representation of minorities in parliament. If, for example, there had been a single-member constituency system (as under Apartheid or in Great Britain), the likelihood of the ANC getting close to 100% of the seats would have been extremely high. Instead, we have 14 parties represented in the parliament today.

The current system also allows for a fairer representation of women. It is well established that women are far less likely to get into parliament in a constituency-based electoral system than a party-list system.

So the intentions were good and in any future system, we have to retain these strong points.

However, there are weaknesses that have become increasingly apparent.

In order to ensure some interaction with constituents, parties allocate MPs to constituency offices. The problem is that it is not in the interest of an MP to spend too much time in their constituency if they want to get re-elected.

In order to get on the lists, MPs have to develop or retain a national profile and of course be sure to impress party leadership. Diligently serving constituents makes that almost impossible. 

Thus, there is a disconnect between voters and those who are meant to represent them, as well as a blind party loyalty from MPs to their respective parties.

Two weeks ago, a private member’s bill was presented to the Speaker aiming to amend the Electoral Act. This follows the Constitutional Court ruling that individuals (and not just political parties) must be allowed to contest the elections.

The detailed bill proposes a mixed constituency and PR list system as suggested by the Van Zyl Slabbert Commission years ago.

The problem is that, as far as I’m aware, the majority party has only once passed a private member’s bill since 1994.  So they are likely to reject it for no other reason than that it was tabled by a member of the opposition.

This is not a problem per se, as long as the majority party put their proposals on the table soon.

There is a real danger that, despite the ruling by the Concourt, they will kick the can down the road, thus (conveniently) not having enough time to make changes prior to the next election. 

That should not be allowed.

Our country is running out of money and time, and no amount of “Sad Unicorn”-inspired deep breathing will change that.

There is no question that for the sake of our children- and grandchildren’s- future, we urgently need a system that places politicians’ futures firmly in the hands of the voters who they are meant to serve and not their political masters.