Chapter 2: Proudly South African p19

1. Chapter 2: Proudly South African p19

2. The people shall govern! • Which document states the above words? • Why is this document important in the history of democratic South Africa? • What is the document which states what the rules of the country are?

3. What is the name of the people who use these rules to govern? • Why does a country need rules? • What will happen to a country where the rules or laws are not obeyed?

4. The Rule of Law: Balancing might with right. • Democracy has brought peace to our country after many years of violence. • There is supposed to be a balance between the rules/laws of the country (the constitution) and the people who use those rules to govern (the government.)

5. When he peace in a country breaks down, because people don’t obey the law, we say that there is anarchy. • Can you think of any other country’s in the world where the rule of law has broken down lately? • What has been the result of this?

6. What is needed for a country to be safe?

7. A country can only be safe when all its citizens obey the rules of the country (which are laid down by the democratically elected government).

8. The separation of powers 1. The Legislature 2. The Executive 3. The Judiciary

9. The Legislature This includes: • The National Parliament AND • the 9 provincial parliaments AND • many smaller municipal councils Function: It makes laws

10. The Executive This includes: - The president AND • The deputy president AND • The cabinet ministers Function: The ministers run departments. The depts propose new policies and, as part of the legislature, make laws.

11. The Judiciary This consists of : • The judges and • Magistrates from the different courts. Function: Apply the laws made by the executive. Judge whether a person is guilty/not. Have power to punish perpetrator.

12. People and political parties • Do you know what the cry “Amandla” and the response “Awethu!” mean? • How many South African political parties can you name? • Is it good to have a lot of political parties in a country?

13. When deciding which political party to vote for, which of the following political aspects will you be most affected by? • The race and gender of the political candidate standing for election? • The policies of that party in the future? • The history of that party in the past?

14. Democracy = People’s Power “Amandla!” “Awethu!” (The power is ours”!) is isiZulu. Demos (people) kratos (power) are two Greek words. Meaning: We, the people, can have the power by electing others to represent us in government.

15. 4. Policy covers all aspects of life, namely: Education policy, Economic policy, a policy on Health Services, etc. 5. The ruling party is the one which wins the most votes and therefore they can run the country by implementing its policies.

16. Areas of governance in South Africa South Africa has many different authority structures which help to govern the country. Each one is recognised and controlled by the Constitution: • The National legislature (National Govt) • The Provincial legislature (Provincial Govt) • Municipalities and district councils (Local Govt)

17. Match up the authority structure with the examples in Box B

18. The IEC (Independent Electoral Commission.) 1. What is the IEC? 2. What is its function?

19. The IEC is the Independent Electoral Commission. • It’s function is to ensure that elections are free and fair.

20. National Legislature (govt) 1. Before an election, each political party gives a list of its representatives to the IEC. 2. South Africans vote in 2 ballots: One for the national legislature One for the provincial legislature

21. How are they different? • The national ballot decides which party will implement its policy and govern the country. • The provincial ballot decides which party will rule in the province and make laws on the province.

22. What does “proportional representation” mean? See p23

23. Activity for workbooks • What are the advantages of having a srong majority in parliament? b) When will it be an advantage for two parties to form an alliance? How do you think voters will feel about this?

24. Provincial legislatures/govt • Who heads up the provincial legislature? 1. The Provincial Premier and 2. MEC’s (Members of the Executive Council.) Function? - To make laws for each province, e.g. who will provide housing, hospitals, other services.

25. Municipalities and district councils Here we vote for ward councillors. Function? He represents the area around your suburb so that if you have problems in your community e.g. people littering, vagrants sleeping in bushes, etc. you speak to him. The local government will then make by-laws to apply in the municipal area.

26. Who is responsible for the following? a) Making sure that street lamps work. b) The building and staffing of schools in Cape Town. c) Giving a Residence Permit to someone from Zimbabwe who wishes to live in S.A.

27. Traditional Authorities How are traditional leaders chosen? Are they elected by democratic vote? What percentage of South Africans live under traditional leaders?

28. Functions of traditional leaders Before colonisation, they looked after their people by: - providing land and housing, grazing and agriculture. - made the area safe for residents - acted as judges to ensure that social laws were upheld and there was peace amongst the people.

29. They consulted with a close circle of advisors (councillors), including royal women. • During the apartheid years, Bantustans were established, where chiefs were relegated to their homelands to look after their people there and the different tribes were expected to stay in their homelands.

30. The present government recognises traditional leaders as important protectors of their culture, morals and social systems of many of S.A.’s people.

31. The S.A. Government also recognises the customary laws of these cultures as long as they are not in conflict with the Constitutional Laws of the country. Houses of Traditional leaders have been established to advise the govt on matters concerning local land and customary law.

32. Test your knowledge • What system of govt do we have in S.A? Clue: A ------------------- democracy 2. How often do political parties stand for election? 3. True or false: The national and provincial legislatures make laws.

33. 4. True or false: the Constitution recognises the role of traditional leaders. 5. What are the 3 branches of power in govt called?

34. Accountibility and Transparency p26 • Def: Accountibility Our elected leaders are paid with taxpayers’ money and they are paid by the electorate (the people who have the right to vote.) They are accountible to the voters.

35. What are they accountable for? • They must show the people how well they have worked. • Have they attended council meetings? • Have they helped the community with problems? • Have they stolen money which would benefit the community?

36. Transparency The elected leaders must have no hidden activities which will cloud their judgement e.g. • They can’t run a business that tenders for government contracts.

37. What they must do before taking office? By law, the leaders must declare their: • Assets • Business interests and • Any gifts they receive Where do they declare these? On a Parliamentary Register of Members’ Interests.

38. Other ways of showing transparency • All jobs and contracts which are paid for by govt must be advertised openly in newspapers. Why? • Most parliamentary and government committee meetings are open to the public (if they want to attend.)

39. How does public participation help democracy to work? If people get involved in the following ways, it helps democracy to work: • Elected leaders need to work hard and be accountable. If they don’t the public won’t vote for them again. • Citizens help govt by being active in developing and taking responsibility for their own communities.

40. Lobbying and petitioning Advocacy: is when interest groups support and help communities with problems, raise awareness and advise people. Lobbying: is when representatives in the community approach elected leaders or influential people, businesses or organisations to help with their problems.

41. How do they do this? • By written request or petition signed by many community members. E.g. Westlake Community needs a primary school. The Westlake Education Committee is formed and petitions the Provincial Education Dept for a school. Together they lobby for financial help from businesses and the national govt.

42. Activity 6 p28 • Identify two things in your community which you could participate in that a future employer might regard as an advantage. • Think about how you could show in your C.V. that these activities prove your commitment to democracy and your involvement in your own community.

43. How do S.Africans participate publicly? Unique South African practices: • Letsema and ilimo (participation): describe ways in which neighbours used to group together to help each other to get heavy farm land cleared and house building done • Other examples: • Stokvels (saving clubs) • Community funeral schemes • Communal food gardens etc.

44. How you can participate in making democracy work • Cast your vote when you are old enough to vote. • Read about govt activities in media. • Report corrupt officials. • Report criminal activity. • Attend council meetings. • Contact local authority about community problems etc.

45. Proudly indigenous • Indigenous knowledge existed before colonialism. It is important to culture and to one’s economy. • It was suppressed after colonialism. • Nowadays pharmaceutical companies spend large amounts of money to develop products using indigenous knowledge. Example? • This can lead to exploitation of the people who have this knowledge.

46. Indigenous knowledge includes: • Knowledge about culture: E.g. how to put on a sari • Knowledge about technology: e.g. how to prepare traditional beer, build sturdy shelters. • Knowledge about health: e.g. cures for pregnancy, healthy benefits of certain plants. • Knowledge about agriculture: e.g. which crops to grow in certain soils.

47. Diversity, debate and dilemma Different belief systems: • Theist: A person who believes in a God or Supreme Being (a deity). • Atheist: Denies the existence of a God. Believes there is a scientific explanation for the creation of the universe. • Agnostic: A person who doesn’t know whether a God exists.

48. Morality What is morality?

49. Answer: It is about right and wrong. Sometimes religious and national laws are different e.g. the views on abortion. How do we learn about what is moral?

50. Moral Conscience What is our moral conscience? Our moral conscience let’s us know what is right or wrong. Our feelings: do we feel good or guilty? Sometimes our conscience may tell us that an action is wrong even if the laws of the land say that something is acceptable e.g.?