We have to recognise that South Africa has a painful history regarding the death penalty. Many of our people had paid the ultimate price for their political convictions, because they were considered criminals in terms of unjust laws.

This is a serious matter and the UDM does not believe that Parliament alone can take this decision without the input of the nation.

A UDM government will call for a national referendum and should the majority of the population support such a measure, the UDM will introduce capital punishment. We however propose that benchmarking studies would be important so that we may learn from other countries’ experience in this regard.