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DIRECT DEMOCRACY SA
Politicians are the employees of the voters
Our current system in South Africa is so much better than pre 1994 but it lacks accountability. The primary allegiance the proportional representatives have is to their own political party. The 50% of the local government councillors that have a constituency can at least be identified by the voters but still are not accountable. We, the voters, are the shareholders of the South African government and employers of politicians. Voters choose the politicians who are employed, pay their salaries and voters must be able to directly control the politicians.
A combination of the following should work the best for the employers of politicians, the voters:
1. Constituency (Wards at all three levels of Government)
2. Top-up proportional representation to ensure that the representation reflects the will of the people
3. Recall of politicians (firing of politicians by the voters before the end of their 5 year term)
4. And referendum with initiative mechanisms where the electorate can reject or propose legislation and change the constitution.
The ward system produces a first past the post system, not reflecting the overall wish of the voters.
The following system will give the overall % as reflected by the voters:
1. Ward and PR vote as currently
2. A political party that obtained 60% of the wards and 50% of the PR vote would not have a PR seat
3. A political Party that obtained 20% of the wards and 30% of the PR vote would have 10% PR seats allocated to bring it up to 30%
4. A political Party that obtained 0% of the wards and 20% of the PR vote would have 20% PR seats allocated to bring it up to 20%
*Charles Bukowski quotes* “The difference between a democracy (as normally practiced) and a dictatorship is that in a democracy you vote first and take orders later; in a dictatorship you don't have to waste your time voting.”
Our current system can be called a 5 year dictatorship.
An employment advert for a politician in South Africa under the current system (and generally throughout the world) should read as follows:Applicants are requested to submit their CV's for the position of politician:
1. The interview will last for a number of months.
2. Many thousands, or even millions, of the politicians’ potential employers (voters) will decide whether the politicians’ application will be successful
3. Should the politician be successful, the politician is guaranteed employment for 5 years unless the politician resigns, dies, is found guilty of a serious crime (we can talk about this one) or upsets the group of people (political party) that the politician chooses to be employed with.
4. The politicians’ CV does not have to be accurate or truthful
5. The politician can ignore the employers (the voters) for the whole of the 5 years, and even go against the wishes or the politicians’ employers (voters).
6. The politicians’ employers are relying on the goodwill and integrity of the politicians, to act honestly and with dignity. But if the politicians choose not to, there is nothing that your employers, can do about it.
7. The politicians’ employers (voters) understand that the basic rules of operation (SA Constitution) are, in many ways, much better than the vast majority of basic rules of many other countries and so much better than pre 1994. The basic rules were created by the politicians and in many ways for the benefit of the politicians and detriment of the employer (voter) and as a result the politicians (employees) will be in charge of the employers (voters).
8. Voters recognise that many politicians, from 1994, have done sterling jobs and others have done a terrible job but we, the voters (employers), will not able to remove the politicians from the voters’ employment or payroll if the voters are not happy with the politicians’ performance.
9. The voters (employers) will not be able to control the politicians (employees).
10. If the politicians are successful the politicians could change the basic rules (constitution) then the politician (employee), would then not govern us but would have to operate in the voters’ interest. This will be under the politicians’ control and we recognize from the past that politicians are not likely give the power to the voters (employers).
11. The voters (employers) would like the politicians to listen to the voters all the time and do as the voters instruct the politicians, not just play lip service for a month and then disappear for 5 years. It is the politicians’ choice whether you will do this.
12. The voters would like you to create a system to have an individual at every level of government that we can go to, so the voters would like to have constituencies at Central, Provincial and Local levels. Politicians, please put this in if you are elected
13. We will rename the position of "politician" to "5 year dictator" since this more accurately describes the position on offer. When the politicians give the power to the voters (employers), the voters will rename the position to “representative”.
We accept that this is a long road to travel. There are many steps to take so that the community will believe that they are in control of their destination. Let us all take the journey together.
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- You, the voters, are the employers of the politicians
- You decide who gets employed by voting
- You pay the salaries through taxes
- With your vote, you also have one equal share with all other voters, as in a company. This equal share is in your Local Council, Province and South Africa
- We have a window of opportunity to change this 5 year dictatorship
Get one or more of your candidate councillors to sign a social contract as below:
I, (ward councillor, ID, ward number, municipality), acknowledge that I am effectively an employee of the voters of ward (number) and that it is the voters of the ward who, through payment of their rates and taxes, pay the my salary.
- I commit to regular and effective consultation with the voting public through public meetings and continuous communication with local residents' associations and community groups via the local press, local radio stations or in person.
- I agree to vote in Council in accordance to the best interest of the voters who elected me, who may from time to time be polled by means of a referendum similar in format to that used for Council petitions.
- I am committed to ensure that the wishes of my constituency are effectively communicated and advocated for in Council and at all levels of local government.
- I am also committed in doing everything within my power to ensuring that the by-laws are upheld and that service delivery is efficient and effective in the ward elected.
- I commit to being held accountable for my performance by the voters.
- I further agree that the registered voters in the ward in question should be able to remove me from office. Should 40% or more of the number of voters who voted in the previous election of the said the said ward sign an open petition I will comply with their wishes and resign. The petition must however adhere to the following rules and regulations:
- The petition must have a proper heading stating the reason of the petition on every page of the petition;
- The petition must be completed within a 30 day period showing the date the petition was drawn up in the heading;
The following information must be on the petition per voter:
- the full names of the voter;
- the valid id number of the voter;
- the date signed by the voter; and
- the signature of the voter.
The petition must be an original document and no photocopies will be accepted.
A petition of this nature may not, however, be initiated within 6 months of me taking office or when an election date has been set and may not continue once an election date has been set.
(Councillors : Download this document in MS Word format HERE)
Find out if your councillor has signed the commitment, CLICK HERE .
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