Mmusi Maimane on court ruling set to shake up SA politics, electoral change
Mmusi Maimane, the former leader of the DA, BizNews political journalist Linda van Tilburg and BizNews webinar attendees picked up on a court ruling set to transform political governance. The first sign that the Constitutional Court finding is taking effect was the sudden move by President Cyril Ramaphosa to lift the Covid-19 lockdown. The discussion with Mmusi Maimane follows an equally fascinating BizNews webinar on the topic, with BizNews founder Alec Hogg, Teresa Conradie of the legal firm which drove the case – Maphalla, Mokate, Conradie – and entrepreneur and former mayor of Johannesburg, Herman Mashaba (for more, here's the link to that webinar on the seismic shift in political governance). – Editor
The Constitutional Court has ruled that independents can stand in national and provincial elections, throwing a major spanner in the works of our electoral system. The ruling by Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga is seen by many political analysts as a defining moment that could release the iron grip that the ANC and is alliance members have on our political system. In this Biznews webinar, Mmusi Maimane, former Democratic Alliance leader who now heads the One South Africa movement, describes the ruling as an opportunity to reset the system of patronage that has led to widespread corruption in the country. Maimane says he is not interested in forming a new political party or joining Herman Mashaba to become party number 49 on a ballot paper. In a nutshell, he believes independents can hold considerable political sway in a new voting systems and the change could even lead to an independent candidate becoming president. – Linda van Tilburg
Mmusi Maimane: Suddenly, your vote is no longer the party that has decided. Suddenly, if the voters says if MP X or MP Y is not voting in the interest of the people, then that person is betraying those who voted for them. Then they must get back to explain to the community that I came to vote to defend Jacob Zuma, President Ramaphosa or an economic policy or whatever.
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