The Congress of the People wants to highlight a fundamental matter of national importance and calls for urgent action to be implemented to realise the Freedom Charter vision that "The People Shall Govern".

1. PRESS CONFERENCE
HELD AT THE MANNAH LODGE, EKHURULENI
ON THE 26TH
OF NOVEMMBER 2018
COPE SAYS THE PEOPLE MUST GOVERN.
Today the Congress of the People wants to highlight a fundamental matter
of national importance and calls for urgent action to be implemented to
realise the Freedom Charter vision that "The People Shall Govern". This
vision is appropriately encapsulated in Section 19, among others, of the
Constitution of our land.
We are extremely concerned that since the Constitutional Court
judgement of 21June 2018, on the matter brought by NGO,
MyVoteCounts, regarding the funding of political parties and the right of
citizens to be informed before going into an election, there has been no
effort nor urgency to give serious attention to equally important remarks
by the judges around the matter of the right of individuals to stand for
elections and if elected to hold public office in any Legislature of the 3
Spheres. It is imperative that we out national interest above political party
interest.
Although the court judgement dealt with a seperate matter, however, the
unanimous views expressed by the judges in paragraph 26 to 29 of the
judgement warrants a responsible administration to take heed of these
fundamental provisions of our Constitution and seek ways to remedy any
identifiable defects in the enabling legislation.
In this instance the current electoral legislation, which has its origins at
CODESA and was intended for the first democratic parliament, is
defective and needs to be brought in line with the letter and spirit of our
constitutional democracy. This present legislation has taken power away
from the People and given it to political parties.
Right in the middle of the body of the judgement the justices make the
following critically important observations which go to the heart of the
founding provision of our Constitution. These are clear and unambiguous
references to the present provisions of the Constitution.
Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng, when delivering the unanimous
judgement said that, citizens have the right to vote in elections for any

2. legislative body, participate in political party activities, but also crucially,
"to stand for public office, and if elected, to hold office".
"Our Constitution does not itself limit the enjoyment of this right to
local government elections," paragraph 29 of the unanimous
judgment reads.
"The right to stand for public office is tied up to the right to 'vote in
elections for any legislative body' that is constitutionally established.
"Meaning, every adult citizen may in terms of the Constitution stand
as an independent candidate to be elected to municipalities,
provincial legislatures or the National Assembly.
"The enjoyment of this right is not and has not been proscribed by
the Constitution. It is just not facilitated by legislation.
"But that does not mean that the right is not available to be enjoyed
by whoever might have lost confidence in political parties. It does, in
my view, remain open to be exercised whenever so desired,
regardless of whatever logistical constraints might exist."
The aforementioned is a moral imperative and an injunction by our
Constitution to realise the citizens rights enshrined in it's provisions like
those similarly proclaimed in the Freedom Charter adopted in 1955 at the
Congress of the People in Kliptown. It would be a betrayal of the forebears
of our democratic struggle and those who paid the supreme sacrifice for
this democracy to ignore these rights at the alter of cheap and narrow
political party expediency.
Because those entrusted with the electoral responsibility to manage the
affairs of the nation in line with the values of our Constitution are failing to
do, without invariably being compelled through court action, we have
taken the liberty and shouldered the moral obligation to support the
President of COPE,Honourable Mosiuoa Lekota, in the introduction of a

3. Private Member's Bill in the National Assembly to effect an amendment to
the electoral legislation to enable individuals to stand as independents at
provincial and national spheres of the legislatures. A copy is attached.
Needless to say, this proposal has been taking an inordinately long time
for the Speaker's Office to handle in the proper way and advice
accordingly so that a remedy to a serious defect is promulgated in time
for the 2019 elections.
It is not responsibility of the Independent Electoral Commission to make
laws but theirs to manage elections in accordance with the current
prevailing legislation. However, as a Chapter 9 Institution, we call on the
Commission to advice parliament accordingly.
The fundamental question is whether the country can hold elections next
year fully aware that those elections may be inconsistent with the
provisions of the Constitution to allow any individual to stand as an
independent. Why is it that in 2003 cabinet accepted the Van Zyl Slabbert
Report but did nothing about giving effect to it's recommendations? Why
is it that the Kgalema Motlanthe High Level Panel Report submitted to the
Speaker in 2017 but it is left to gather dust and the gravity of the matter is
either ignored or looked down upon by the very parliament that must be
the guardian of the Constitution?
The Congress of the People is highly perturbed by the apparent lack of
political will by the National Executive led by President Cyril Ramaphosa
and Parliament led by the Speaker, Ms. Baleka Mbete, to perform their
constitutional duties as per their Oath of Office to: ".... obey, observe,
uphold and maintain the Constitution".
In recent times, as we warned since our establishment in 2008, the current
leadership of the ruling part has accelerated the morphing into an
antithesis of the virtues of constitutionalism as espoused by Nelson
Mandela and his contemporaries.
The Founding Provision in Section 2 of the Constitution states that: "This
Constitution is the supreme law of the Republic; law or conduct
inconsistent with it is invalid, and the obligations imposed by it must be
fulfilled." Why should citizens always have to resort to expensive and time
consuming litigation to get a government to fulfill it's obligations under the
Constitution?

4. While the nation's attention is seized by the unfolding horrors at the
Commission of Inquiry on State Capture, occasioned by the ruling party's
shenanigans and cadre self aggrandizement, it is important that the nation
doesn't lose sight of this fundamental matter of enabling citizens exercise
democratic choices and to hold their elected public representatives
accountable. The current proportional representation system makes it
difficult to hold individual political leaders accountable as evidenced by
the latest depressing audit outcomes released by the Auditor General.
COPE will embark on an intensified campaign to solicit the support of civil
society, business formations, the religious fraternity and all other
stakeholders, including concerned individuals, to support the moral call
for the return of real power to the hands of all the people. They must have
the right choose their public representatives unencumbered by the power
play by political party bosses and their machinations.
In order to uplift the people's power we must first ensure that our leaders
AND representatives are held accountable by those who lend them their
power through voting and elections.
Issued by: Mosiuoa Lekota
President of the Congress of the People.