Dear friends and fellow South Africans,
Something perverse happened in the past decade that disrupted the course of democracy in South Africa, but we may have a chance to set it right. Best of all is that the ones to do it are the people themselves.
Over the course of a few years, floor crossing legislation enabled MPs, MPLs and local government councilors to swop their allegiance between political parties, taking their seat with them. It was a betrayal of the electorate and a betrayal of democracy. The will of the people was subverted, putting the power to decide who should lead into the hands of politicians.
In January 2006, in an interview with the South African Press Association, I said, "Floor-crossing robs the political system of all honour, holding political parties hostage by rendering them unable to discipline their own members. It allows the emergence of careerists, self-serving politicians; which are a very strange breed because they do not honour the sanctity of the vote cast in the ballot box."
The IFP rejected floor crossing legislation, because we believe that the will of the people is supreme in a genuine democracy. The people deserve to receive the leadership they choose. Floor crossing opened the way for chequebook politics, and many of those who shifted allegiance were bribed and then rewarded.
One of the places worst affected by floor crossing legislation was the district of Ugu in KwaZulu Natal. Although the people had chosen an IFP leadership and given their mandate to the IFP through the ballot box, the ANC took over control of Ugu and its local municipalities.
The people had spoken, but the ANC ignored them.
On the 18th of May, the people have another chance to speak, and this time the ANC will be forced to respect their voice. Things could change for Ugu. Democracy can triumph again.
The IFP was therefore devastated when the Independent Electoral Commission disqualified us from contesting the local government elections in Umzumbe, a local municipality in Ugu. We had missed the IEC's deadline for submitted our candidate list for Umzumbe, although we had tried everything in our power to get the documents in on time.
Umzumbe is a deeply rural area and lacks the infrastructure to facilitate the speedy transmission of documents. When we realised we wouldn't be able to get the documents in on time the usual way, the IFP tried to hire a helicopter to fly our candidate list out of Umzumbe. But the weather was bad and the helicopter could not take the risk.
These were circumstances beyond our control and we sought the IEC's leniency on the matter. But when the IEC excluded the IFP from the elections in Umzumbe, we knew we had to take the matter further. We contested their decision before the Electoral Court, and the Court ruled in our favour.
It was a victory for Umzumbe. But more than that, it was a victory for democracy.
The Court ruled that the IEC should have made allowance for the fact that circumstances were beyond our control. But it also noted that excluding the IFP from the local government elections in Umzumbe Municipality would be detrimental to democracy, because clearly the IFP has many supporters in Umzumbe and denying them the right to vote for the IFP would be denying them their voice.
This is the same voice that the ANC disregarded. It is the voice with which the people can now set right the perversion of democracy that was perpetrated against them through the floor crossing legislation.
The IEC has approached the Constitutional Court to challenge the ruling of the Electoral Court, and the IFP has opposed their application. For us, the stakes are just too high. Denying Umzumbe their choice is denying them their voice.
This time, may democracy win.
Yours in the service of the nation,
Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi MP
Issued by the IFP, May 8 2011
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