Ever since union - and before - black South Africans have been excluded from parliament, provincial councils and other law-making bodies. This means that blacks have never participated in the electoral process. The voting (electoral) system - its nature and workings - remained the sole preserve of white political parties and the Apartheid government of the day. As a result of a conjuncture of circumstances (as per Harare Declaration), the African National Congress and the apart0heid government are now engaged in talks. Hopefully this will ultimately lead to negotiations towards a new Constitution which will make provision for a single unitary, non-racial, non-sexist South Africa with universal franchise on one single common voters roll and one person one vote. Part of the process of constitution-making for such a South Africa, will be the working out of a system of voting, an electoral system, which would be appropriate for the country. The African National Congress has recognised the need for a multi-party system, the right of all other political forces and organisations to organise and to compete for power on the political terrain. The ANC also recognises that all parties enjoying significant support should have the right to be represented in a Constituent Assembly and parliament. The question which needs to be resolved is: What would be an appropriate electoral system to achieve the stated objec0tive? It is to place the issue before the people of our country and to ensure participation at the widest levels by all the organisa0tions of the people in the process of constitution-making (including formulating and/or agreeing upon an acceptable system of voting), that the African National Congress, Community Law Centre (University of the Western Cape) and the Centre for Development Studies have organised a conference to be held in the Western Cape on 2 - 4 NOVEM0BER 1990. This conference will not be a decision-making one. nor will there be any resolutions at the end of the conference. The objective is to facilitate meaningful discussions throughout the country. To facilitate this process, we present a discussion document entitled "ELECTORAL SYSTEMS: A CRITICAL SURVEY" which has been prepared by Professor KADER ASMAL, a member of the Constitutional Committee of the ANC and Professor of Law at Trinity College, Dublin. It is hoped that arising from these discussions, there will be more meaningful discussions and consultations amongst or0ganisations such as trade unions, civic organisations, women’s organisations and other sectoral or0ganisations - ultimately leading to a situation which we would be better able to decide on an acceptable, unity building and democratic electoral system. / "The Community Law Centre (UWC) & Centre for Development Studies in conjunction with the ANC Constitutional Committee."--Cover
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:rhodes/vital:28951 |
| Date | 24 October 1990 |
| Creators | Asmal, Kader, 1934-2011 |
| Publisher | Centre for Development Studies |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text, book |
| Format | 22 pages, pdf |
| Rights | University of Western Cape, No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior permission from the publisher |
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