South Africa

Another election has passed and it seems SA's political landscape is virtually unchanged. The ANC (once again) dominated the election with the DA trailing in a very distant second and the other upstart opposition parties registering in the single digits. Sound familiar? If you're noticing a tinge of frustration on my part you'd be spot-on - our local politics at the moment is very stale and seemingly going nowhere! Oh but you say, it was a successful election - no violence, voter intimidation etc? That is a valid point, but if those are the only criteria we assign to what determines whether an election was successful or not, we are selling ourselves well short.

Since I started this blog, one of the main targets of my scorn has been politicians who are divorced from reality. You know who I mean - those fatcats who are content to just sit around surrounded by their yes-men, completely cut-off from the man on the street. These clowns along with their equally damaging curruptocrat buddies have gone a long way in disrupting the flow of services to those who need them most. This election was an opportunity to give the finger to these fools and show them and the party(s) they represent that this type of conduct will not be tolerated in future. Instead what seems to have happened is that people have just decided to abandon the democratic process altogethor and show their vote of frustration by not voting at all. This is not the way forward. Unfortunately for all of us, this is a vicious cycle where people not voting allow the same inefficient clowns back into power which further raises voter apathy....and so it goes on.  

Let's take a look at a fine illustration - Merafong Municipality (which incorporates the contentious Khutsong). This municipality, to me, is the best example of what is wrong in SA politics today and serves as a fine microcosm of what is happening nationally. Khutsong was one of the "border" municipalities that was incorporated into a neighboring province - much to the displeasure of those living there. The local residents felt that those in power (local councilors, the national government) were not the slight bit concerned about their feelings on the issue and just unilaterally made the decision to move the municipality. This feeling prompted them to decide to boycott the elections in protest. The result? A 29% turnout rate resulting in the same party as before the election (the ANC) taking control of the protesting Wards. See any difference? I don't. That's because boycotts don't work. If people feel very strongly about an issue they must express this feeling through the ballot box, not by avoiding it. By boycotting this election these residents played straight into the hands of the people they were supposedly "punishing", not the result they as a community or we as a country need!

At the same time there is another message here, that is the fact that people at local level feel like they don't have alternatives. This is the fault of a lackluster opposition that clearly has no idea of how to galvanise and motivate those at grassroots level to reject the incumbent councilors. To put it another way if most people are faced with three choices a) the incumbent b) the opposition and c) not voting at all; and the majority of them are choosing option C then you as an opposition politician have to take a hard look at yourself and ask the question of why you do not represent the desires of these apathetic or boycotting voters. So what came first the chicken or the egg - the unhappy voter or the lackluster opposition politician?

At a +/-50% turnout rate in the election I'll let you decide...