The carcass of the National Assembly is the symbol of destruction by an oligarchy
21 November 2022 - 14:53
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SA’s “new democratic dispensation” has failed, utterly. If you want a symbol, see it in the disintegrating carcass of the burnt-out National Assembly building. If you want damning evidence, find it the Zondo state capture commission report. It cannot be resurrected. It is dead.
Why did our constitution fail? Among other flaws, it encouraged oligarchy while dressed up as the Westminster model. Assembly membership is through party lists, and the chosen do not, with rare exceptions, bite the hand that feeds them. Lord Acton was right: “Power has a tendency to corrupt. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” True to form, after almost 28 years of near absolute political domination by the ANC, the only thing we have to show for it is absolute corruption.
Not that we are in bad company. A quiescent Federal Assembly in Russia, about the same age as SA’s, allowed Vladimir Putin’s clique to rule absolutely, eventually leading to the “special military operation” in Ukraine and a swath of destruction. The US, on the other hand, being scared of an overpowerful president, allowed absolute power to be appropriated by the “deep state”. Even the UK’s illustrious parliamentary traditions have not saved it. Liz Truss’s speedy demise illustrated that executive power is creeping from Downing to Threadneedle Street, with the current parliament seeming unable to act.
When finally struggling ashore on the other side of our sea of troubles South Africans must remember Winston Churchill’s words: “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.” Holding to the principle, a new and enlightened constitution must be drafted, this time taking into account these years of bitter experience.
James Cunningham, Camps Bay
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
LETTER: Our democracy and constitution are dead
The carcass of the National Assembly is the symbol of destruction by an oligarchy
SA’s “new democratic dispensation” has failed, utterly. If you want a symbol, see it in the disintegrating carcass of the burnt-out National Assembly building. If you want damning evidence, find it the Zondo state capture commission report. It cannot be resurrected. It is dead.
Why did our constitution fail? Among other flaws, it encouraged oligarchy while dressed up as the Westminster model. Assembly membership is through party lists, and the chosen do not, with rare exceptions, bite the hand that feeds them. Lord Acton was right: “Power has a tendency to corrupt. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” True to form, after almost 28 years of near absolute political domination by the ANC, the only thing we have to show for it is absolute corruption.
Not that we are in bad company. A quiescent Federal Assembly in Russia, about the same age as SA’s, allowed Vladimir Putin’s clique to rule absolutely, eventually leading to the “special military operation” in Ukraine and a swath of destruction. The US, on the other hand, being scared of an overpowerful president, allowed absolute power to be appropriated by the “deep state”. Even the UK’s illustrious parliamentary traditions have not saved it. Liz Truss’s speedy demise illustrated that executive power is creeping from Downing to Threadneedle Street, with the current parliament seeming unable to act.
When finally struggling ashore on the other side of our sea of troubles South Africans must remember Winston Churchill’s words: “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.” Holding to the principle, a new and enlightened constitution must be drafted, this time taking into account these years of bitter experience.
James Cunningham, Camps Bay
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
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