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Demarcation is an excellent instrument with which to manipulate elections, so, a desperate ANC that is busy losing its grip on government can hardly be trusted with it.

Thus, the name of the Bill dealing with this should be embodied in practice: The Independent Demarcation Authority Bill makes it clear that the authority should be independent.

The FF Plus's recommendation regarding the Bill was that the Demarcation Authority's board and committee members should be politically non-aligned. Any active participation in political activities should automatically disqualify such a member.

The ANC's attempt to, nonetheless, retain control over the Board is clearly reflected in its intransigence regarding the selection of board members, despite opposition parties' objections.

The Department's proposal that the selection panel responsible for nominating the Demarcation Authority's Board should be retained was accepted.

This panel surely can and will be manipulated by the ANC to appoint cadres as members of the Board.

The proposal put forward by the FF Plus and other opposition parties was that such a panel should rather be made up of a parliamentary multi-party committee to ensure transparency.

Accountability should accompany transparency, but given the ANC's track record, everything already points to the possibility that the Board will take no notice of it.

The FF Plus's view is that a process of public participation should be followed in determining the composition of the Board.

The Demarcation Authority Board has the power to determine borders which directly impact communities, therefore, it should be accountable to those communities.

The FF Plus's message to the ANC remains the same: Regardless of whatever plans it may hatch, nothing will save it at the polls next year.

The ANC cannot be trusted with anything. South Africa being without lights speaks of its sheer incompetence. Its main focus has been on self-enrichment instead of proper governance.

These truths will probably only sink in when the ANC finds itself sitting in the opposition benches in Parliament in 2024.

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