MINISTER UNPACKS TINKHUNDLA SYSTEM

MBABANE – Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Pholile Shakantu has taken the initiative to educate Africans about the Tinkhundla system of governance.

In a lengthy article that was published by African Times on Tuesday, Shakantu highlighted the similarities between the local system of governance to that of South Africa, which were brought about by a constitutional court judgment in June this year.

Shakantu confirmed to be the author of the article which pointed out that South Africa’s High Court recently handed down a judgment declaring that independent candidates who desired to stand for elections, whether for provincial or national seats, were permitted by law to do so.
Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga opened the door to independent candidates, who up until the judgment, were not allowed to stand in national and provincial elections, and only in municipal elections.  

He said the act was unconstitutional as it said a person could only be elected to the National Assembly and provincial legislatures as part of a political party in the proportional representation system.

The minister said in light of this judgment, she was compelled to draw a parallel between Eswatini and South Africa’s electoral system as South Africa moved away from a purely proportional representation system to make way for a model that brought constituencies to the fore, “which we have long favoured here in Eswatini.”

“I confirm that I am the author of the article. It is meant to educate Africans about the Tinkhundla system, which is largely misunderstood. You will recall that during Sibaya, I spoke about our system of government at length. My intention is to expand on my submissions, educate and provide information to multiple audiences who have an interest in the subject,” she said when reached for comment on the article yesterday.

The minister said Eswatini’s system of government was based on tinkhundla democracy and the term ‘inkhundla’ or ‘tinkhundla’ (plural) was a siSwati name for a constituency. She said in the country’s system, constituencies became engines for development and empowerment for emaswati. She said constituencies were also used to access services, as political spaces and popular representation of the people in Parliament.
“Our Tinkhundla democracy emphasises that people be elected or appointed to public office based on individual merit, not affiliation to any particular party or grouping,” she said.

Making further elaborations, Shakantu said elections in Eswatini were run according to the constituencies.
She said this system allowed individuals to campaign for elections. The primary and secondary elections take place in communities and constituencies (tinkhundla). She wrote that as emaSwati, it was important to transform the system to allow individuals to be elected at grassroots level directly into Parliament.

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