MADLANGA J The Constitution deliberately did not make proportional representation, including party proportional representation, a founding value. If it had made party proportional representation a founding value, we would not be having this interpretative debate. Add to this the fact that – although the interim Constitution and the Constitution already had in place a system of electing political office bearers in accordance with party lists – our constitutional order kept that system alive only up to the first election under the Constitution.103 Why was that system not kept in place indefinitely? It ought not to have been part of transitional arrangements under the Constitution. It ought to have been retained so that – instead of being required to create an electoral system – all that the Legislature would be left to do would be to provide nuts and bolts on how that existing system would work. So, the reliance on sections 57(2), 178(1)(h), 193(5) and 236 is not enough to detract from the applicants’ case. Section 157(2)(a) A section that appears to offer support for the respondents’ interpretation better than the rest is section 157(2)(a) of the Constitution.104 The question is: is that apparent support sustainable? The respondents did not rely on this section in the context of what I am about to address. As a result, after the oral hearing, supplementary directions were issued calling upon the parties and amici to address the question— 103 See the discussion in [65] to [69] above. 104 Section 157(2) of the Constitution provides: “The election of members to a Municipal Council as anticipated in subsection (1)(a) must be in accordance with national legislation, which must prescribe a system— (a) of proportional representation based on that municipality’s segment of the national common voters roll, and which provides for the election of members from lists of party candidates drawn up in a party’s order of preference; or (b) of proportional representation as described in paragraph (a) combined with a system of ward representation based on that municipality’s segment of the national common voters roll.” 39