Leader of the official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA), Helen Zille, yesterday outlined her party's proposals for changing South Africa's government system.

While the DA believed that the Constitution paved the way for a system embodying democracy, transparency and accountability, Zille said that there was significant room for improvement. She explained that the last 15 years have shown that South Africa's current government system could be used to empower politicians at the expense of the citizens.

The party proposed the direct election of the President, Premiers and Mayors so that parties would be more discerning in nominating candidates. Zille emphasised that the direct election of the President would make it less likely that a man charged with fraud and corruption would emerge as a Presidential candidate.

The DA also proposed a mixed proportional representation constituency electoral system to elect Parliamentary ministers, holding separate elections for national, provincial and local government, and bolstering the federal elements of the Constitution to strengthen provincial government.

The opposition party suggested measures to strengthen and "depoliticise" the "Chapter 9" institutions that were meant to support constitutional democracy. The DA proposed that Ministers play no role in appointing people to these positions.

Zille stressed that the DA's proposals would require constitutional amendments needing to be debated on Parliament, and were therefore not the sole prerogative of the DA.