Trade of Proportional Representation and Party Systems in South Africa

Abstract

The chapter examines the proportional representation and party system in a democratic state. A proportional representation system (PR) is prevalent in representative democracies to elect members of parliament (MP). South Africa adopted PR in 1994 in its first democratic election to elect MPs to the National Assembly. Given this context, the chapter discusses how proportional representation strengthens or undermines South Africa's democracy, the likelihood of single-party majority victories, and the 2021 'Zuma must fall protest' to zoom in accountability of government officials. Methodologically, the chapter is a qualitative study with triangulated data from interviews, observation of plenary debates, news, minutes of the Parliament, Hansard, minutes of select and standing committees, and Parliamentary speeches. Findings suggest limited accountability between MPs and voters because the closed-list system gives excessive influence to party leaders and lacks incentives for MPs to represent specific geographic areas.