Students support election of independent candidates

Students voiced their support for the Constitutional Court ruling that paves the way for the election of independent candidates to provincial legislatures and Parliament in the future, while a few were worried that independent candidates would not be held accountable. 

The Constitutional Court ruled that certain sections of the Electoral Act were unconstitutional and gave parliament two years to fix these sections. The judgment allows independent candidates to run for election without the need to belong to a political party.

Thapelo Ramogale (21), from Thembisa, a BEd student at the University of South Africa (Unisa), said she does not have confidence in independent candidates.

“I don’t think independent candidates have the necessary resources or capability to successfully lead in provincial legislatures or parliament. The country requires a structured leadership; hence the political party system works for me,” Ramogale said.

“A political party is able to hold its members to account and to remove them from their deployed positions when they fail to perform. But an independent candidate will get away with a lot of corruption because there is no structure to hold them to account,” Ramogale added.

Bongani Mokgawa (23), from Bochum, a second-year Diploma in Internal Auditing student at Tshwane University of Technology, said, he believes this is a move in the right direction for the country.

“We need more independent candidates in our parliament. Many people in the country want to be involved in politics, however, they don’t have any political party they agree with. This will enable those kinds of people to run for office without any political party affiliations,” Mokgawa said.

“Furthermore, this is good news for the voters who didn’t vote in the previous elections because they don’t agree with any political party. Now they can choose an independent who represents their own values,” Mokgawa added.

Rodney Livhalani (26), final year BA communications student at the North-West University Vaal Triangle Campus, agrees with Baloyi. According to Livhalani, South African democracy needs more of this.

“This judgment brings to my mind the American election system. I mean, I understand that it is a two-party system, but it offers an opportunity for people to vote for a candidate instead of a political party. We have seen good leaders with great potential being drowned by their own political parties. So, if those leaders can rise and contest for elections independently, we will surely see a great shift in the political landscape,” Livhalani said.

Livhalani and Mokgawa share the sentiments of Mmusi Maimane, former DA leader and now “chief activist” of the One South Africa Movement, who welcomed this judgment with open arms.

“My prediction is that there will be more than 11 % of independents in parliament come 2024,” Maimane said in a tweet.