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The Electoral Reform Consultation Panel has been tasked with making recommendations for reforms to the electoral system in South Africa. Photo: Delwyn Verasamy, M&G

Electoral reform should be seen as a priority to build trust between voters and politicians

Many politicians have put internal party battles and their own interests over the well-being of citizens, eroding the public’s trust in them and in democratic institutions. This…

As voters, we have to scrutinise policies carefully and use our voting power to force parties to address the climate crisis. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

Elections 2024: Consider the climate when making your cross

Climate change needs to be front and centre of party manifestos

Senegalese newly elected president Bassirou Diomaye Faye walks past the honour guard after taking oath in front of the Constitutional Council following the ceremony of swearing in as the new president of Senegal in Dakar, Senegal on April 02, 2024. Senegalese opposition politician Faye was sworn in as president on Tuesday, becoming the youngest elected African leader less than three weeks after he was released from prison to run in the election last month. (Photo by Senegalese Presidency / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Lessons from Senegal: The role of the electorate in driving political change

The timely and constitutional transfer of power also strengthened confidence in democracy, not only for the citizens of Senegal but for many across the continent

DA supporters.  The writer says parties must take voters through their ‘thinking’ processes, not just pontificate at rallies. (Ihsaan Haffejee/Getty Images)

The need for informed policy solutions beyond election rallies

All too frequently, the solutions provided in manifestos are simplistic, time-consuming and expensive to implement

Photo by Phill Magakoe/AFP

Youth for Parliament: South Africa needs intergenerational leadership

Political parties and voters need to understand that a fundamental principle of democracy is that political systems should represent the desires and best interests of all citizens

South Africa’s youth are not apathetic but they don’t feel connected to the government and political parties and they don’t trust politicians.
(David Harrison/M&G)

IEC vows to deliver free and fair elections on Monday

A government statement on Monday said millions of South Africans had already heeded the call to cast their vote and that the vibrant atmosphere at voting stations around the…

Abandoned? EFF supporters in Vuwani in 2019, but residents say no one is canvassing for their votes this time at the polls. Photo: Lucas Ledwaba/Mukurukuru Media

‘No one is campaigning to us’ — Vuwani residents on municipal elections

Vuwani residents are ready to vote, but none of the top three parties is wooing them

(Photo by Marvin Adams/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Ipsos survey points to 49.3% support for ANC in local government elections

It is still unclear how discontent with politics, and the effects of Covid-19, will affect voter turnout, according to research company Ipsos

Former Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke. (Photo by Mabuti Kali / Sowetan / Gallo Images / Getty Images)

Moseneke recommends local elections be delayed until February 2022

‘It is not reasonably possible or likely that the local government election scheduled for October 2021 will be held in a free and fair manner’ – Justice Dikgang Moseneke

Standing by their man: Supporters of Zambia’s governing Patriotic Front and former president Edgar Lungu at his closing presidential campaign rally of the last election cycle in August 2016. (Gianluigi Guercia/AFP)

Two surveys, two wildly different predictions for Zambia’s election

But both surveys ultimately suggest that Zambia’s governing party is under considerable pressure

Can Electoral Act amendments revive faith in SA’s democracy?
(David Harrison/M&G)

Reforming a broken system: Can Electoral Act amendments revive faith in SA’s democracy?

Pure politics: Incoming Electoral Act changes could revolutionise our political landscape. Or not

Trust deficit: People queue to vote in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, in last year’s election. Negative public attitudes towards voting are borne out of citizens’ distrust and frustration with their representatives, writes Mikhail Moosa. (David Harrison)

We’ll believe in the ballot box again. Maybe

The number of adults who didn’t vote in the 2019 elections reflects citizens’ disenchantment with their representatives. Perhaps Covid-19 presents government with the chance to…