8/7/2019 JAG Media Release - Direct Democracy Campaign

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J O B U R G A D V O C A C Y G R O U P

( J A G )

Working for best practice governance in the City of Johannesburg 

Media Release

Joburg Advocacy Group Launches Dir ect Democr acy Campaign  

Campaign aims to promote a move to direct democracy in the City of Johannesburg 

Johannesburg22 March 2011For immediate release

The Joburg Advocacy Group (JAG), an independent civil society group working for best practice

governance in the City of Johannesburg, yesterday launched a campaign for direct democracy, which

will run until the local government elections on 18 May.

The campaign aims to promote a move to direct democracy in the city by providing information for 

voters and by offering a platform for debate about the current local government system, as well as

about viable alternatives.

³What few voters realise is that our present model isn¶t the only form of democracy,´ says JAG

founding member, Lee Cahil l, ³and that there are other ways of organising public life; ways which

ensure that political power remains with the electorate and isn¶t effectively transferred to political

parties.´

At present, she says, voters have no direct control over who is nominated for election and, once

councillors are elected, no direct control over their performance.

³Essentially, very few people are in control of deciding who it is that should stand for election and, if 

voted into office, who will represent the people.´

To illustrate the point, she cites the fact that the ruling ANC has a membership of just over 820,000

members1, a number which represents only 2.8% of the voting population

2. It is this membership that,

at branch level, nominates and approves candidates for election - without the obligation of having to

1Reported by the ANC on 12 August 2010

2Statistics South Africa: Mid-Year Population Estimates, July 2010

8/7/2019 JAG Media Release - Direct Democracy Campaign

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    hile the structures and processes may be diff erent in the case of the var ious opposition par ties, the 

same pr inciples apply.

Fur ther , both   ard councillors and propor tional representation 

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  councillors are directly 

responsible to the par ty¶s caucus leader  in local government and not to the electorate.  his means 

that voters cannot hold their  councillors directly to account dur ing their term in office or  demand that

they address cer tain issues in   ouncil, especially as motions may be vetoed by either  the par ty¶s 

caucus leader  or  by the Speaker ,  ho is also a par ty appointee.

 Similar  concerns apply in the case of candidates f or  

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ayor ,"   says 

  ahill.

  he city is basically a 

business and the residents are its shareholders, as they provide the lion¶s share of its revenue through the payment of taxes. And yet the city¶s shareholders have no say in 

  

ho is nominated by the 

var ious par ties f or the position of !   

ayor , the person   ho 

  ill ultimately be the city¶s 

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  his is a 

situation that  ould simply never  be seen in the business sector .

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  he aim of 

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¶s campaign, then, is to make voters aware of the f act that they are in a position to 

demand a new, more direct f orm of democracy in the   

ity of #  

ohannesburg. As par t of this initiative,

the group will be publishing downloadable inf ormation leaflets on direct democracy throughout the 

pre-election per iod. It will also be holding daily democracy debates on Facebook and   

witter , and will

be actively par ticipating in media debates.

 

  

epresentational democracy can take us only so f ar ,"   says 

  ahill,

 and we believe it is time to star t

working towards a more direct and accountable f orm of democracy, star ting at local level." 

 

For f ur ther  inf ormation on the #  oburg Advocacy 

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roup,$  

oogle the group¶s web site, visit its 

Facebook page or f ollow it on   witter  

 @

#  oburgAdvocacy).

End.