Series highlights need to vote wisely

Over the last few weeks, The Herald has been running a special series — 30 Years of Democracy — and will continue to do so over the next six weeks as the seventh national and provincial elections approach. “As the country gears up to commemorate 30 years of democracy, our team hit the road to assess the good, the bad and the ugly of service delivery in parts of the Eastern Cape over the last three decades,” reads the blurb that accompanies the stories to explain the context.

So far, the team has already covered a vast part of the Karoo, including Middelburg, Graaff-Reinet, Nxuba (formerly Cradock) and Willowmore.

And the story for each is pretty much the same — a beautiful town in ruins, drowning in water issues and battling every day to navigate the lack of service delivery.

In Aberdeen, our team found that for the past six years some residents could count on one hand the number of times they have had water coming out of taps, while in nearby Graaff-Reinet, they found bird droppings plastered across the walls and floors, a foul odour in the air, and roofs leaking and covered in mould at the town hall.

At Nxuba, a town steeped in the history of antiapartheid activism and home of the Cradock Four, residents lamented the state of their town’s legacy.

Reporter Brandon Nel described the town as “a dismal sight, with the streets strewn with litter, roads marred by potholes and people begging at intersections vividly illustrating the widespread unemployment in the community”.

Willowmore, on the edge of the Baviaanskloof, is beset by crime and a growing problem of drug abuse, while in Middelburg, the sight of sewage and filth flooding the streets has become commonplace, forcing people to trudge through the muck.

While just a microcosm of SA, these problems are no doubt prevalent around the country — to a lesser degree in some areas and worse in others, but still affecting every single person living in SA. The role of service delivery in a democracy can, therefore, never be underestimated and issues about service delivery will undoubtedly play a crucial role in the upcoming elections, arguably one of the most contested elections since 1994.

Those vying for our votes should remember this, always. Those of us voting should realise our power and role in a democracy — and wield it wisely.