Caution needed in reaction to ruling on independent election candidates — Max Boqwana

Those who celebrated the Constitutional Court judgment on the eligibility of independent candidates to contest in national elections, thinking that a new dawn for accountability has finally come, need to be cautious.

These were the sentiments of lawyer and Thabo Mbeki Foundation CEO Max Boqwana on Wednesday evening in his political lecture on the judgment and its implications.

The lecture was hosted by the ANC’s Sarah Baartman region.

“Those who [oppose] the ANC [do so] because they believe the ANC has begun to harbour arrogant, unaccountable and rudderless individuals, resulting in the negative political and economic environment,” he said.

“For many who are praying for the end of the ANC, the subject matter of our discussion brings them closer to this dream, so they say.”

He said no electoral system could be a cure for bad politics.

“Whatever electoral system we have will not solve our problems, we need to act and we need to act now.

“I fear a situation that inasmuch as we may destroy political institutions, it may take a few years for the right politicians to correct the system, and if we destroy the economy it will take a few years to design correct policies that will make the country function again.”

Boqwana said stealing from the poor and sick was seen as normal and acceptable.

“Whatever electoral system we adopt, if it is not underpinned by the correct politics with the main objective being to serve the masses, we will forever be calling for change.”

The June 11 ruling means that a politician no longer needs to be a member of a political party to be elected into office.

Boqwana said, however, that the jubilation about the judgment was concerning and an indication of loss of trust by many in the ANC.

“We need to reflect on why there is a celebration of what a person like me considers a misguided judgment and reflect on how the ANC at present behaves in a manner that helps these misguided celebrations.”

He said Bulelani Mkhohliswa of the New Nation Movement — the organisation that brought the application — said the landmark judgment brought back the power to the people and now communities could elect people who were already serving communities.

Also,  individuals with proven track records, with character and integrity, would emerge.

“This should be the first issue that concerns the ANC, and it must ask itself the hard question of whether the ANC is able to produce public representatives with those qualities,” Boqwana said.

“The challenge we are facing is that the ANC has not placed itself at the centre of reimagining SA.”

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