Elections countdown

n HARARE, Zimbabwe, tempers are flaring. Violence broke out on Wednesday as the country awaited the results of what many have lauded as a new dawn for the embattled country.

Instead, police took to the streets as the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) protested and blamed delays in the announcement of the presidential results on the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.

Within less than a year, South Africans will be queuing up for our elections.

It’s been a long road since 1994 when the country, in jubilant spirit, celebrated its first democratic elections.

Since then, much has happened with new parties coming to the fore. Voters will be spoilt for choice amid a whole array of parties which will be vying for their attention.

Elections are not a popularity contest, however. It’s not about who shouts the loudest or who is the most intimidating or who is the most outrageous.

Running a country is far more serious than that. It requires diplomacy, forethought,

Iplanning, consideration, empathy, morality, strength and dignity and respect for others. In a country like SA, with a history of division and human rights violations, it needs a party with vision and one which is able to rally all of its people behind it, regardless of whether it initially had their vote.

Expect much politicking in the next few months. Be discerning. Use your own moral compass. Decide what you want the country to be like in five or 10 years and then make a choice. And then think again.

It is one of the greatest rights – to vote and help determine your future.

If the Independent Electoral Commission meets its mandate of being exactly that – independent and of good repute – then the 2019 elections may indeed also mark a historic point for SA. It will, however, call for cool heads and calm hearts. Unlike Zimbabwe, SA should lead by producing an election that will reflect the views of the people of the country – and run it in such a way that the results will be accepted.