Let us not squander our hard-won right by staying away
IN 2016, the FW de Klerk Foundation joined a group of other foundations, under the banner of the National Foundations Dialogue Initiative (NFDI). Its main goal is to lead and facilitate dialogue between all South Africans on our future, based on our shared commitment to our Constitution.
This is in keeping with the FW de Klerk Foundation’s vision and mission of promoting, among others, to support and promote the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. This includes every South African’s right to vote.
The NFDI decided that member foundations should raise their individual voices about the elections and the importance of all South Africans exercising their hard-won right to vote.
The hard-fought right to vote is enshrined in our Constitution and should not be taken for granted or exercised lightly. Before 1994, millions of South Africans did not have the right to vote. There are more than 2 billion people in the world who don’t have a meaningful vote.
Our right to vote gives us a say in the country’s future. It gives eligible South Africans a co-responsibility to determine our shared future. Without a good voter turnout, the mandate of our future leaders will be diluted. If we don’t vote we won’t have representatives to keep our elected leaders accountable.
Although many voters might be dissatisfied with political parties and disillusioned with the direction our democracy has moved in the past nine years, we urge all eligible voters to exercise their right to vote.
Let us not squander that hard-won right by staying away from the polls.
Political parties and the Electoral Commission of South Africa also have a responsibility in this regard.
The IEC must guarantee an environment in which free and fair electioneering can take place. Although we hold it in high regard, the foundation is concerned about a possible lack of capacity to manage an election in which a record 48 political parties will participate. We urge the IEC to ensure that the necessary capacity is in place.
As citizens, it’s important to support the IEC in its efforts to conduct a free and fair election. Accordingly, the NFDI, through some of its foundations, will take part as independent observers.
We appeal to political parties to be ethical and abide by the Electoral Code. We believe it’s possible to run election campaigns without being slanderous, whipping up racial tension or being disrespectful to opponents.
The election and democratic process will be enhanced if citizens have sufficient information to make meaningful comparisons between the policies of the various parties. In many other democracies, this happens via a public presidential or leaders’ debate. We regret that this has not happened. We recommend that this sort of debate should become a regular feature of South African election processes.
A concerted effort must be made to reach out to undecided, marginalised or apathetic voters. There are millions of potential voters who are disenchanted with our democracy and feel excluded from the electioneering processes. We must jointly, as foundations, political parties and other civil society organisations, make an effort to reach out to them. If left unattended, the voters will become permanently disengaged, resulting in lower levels of voter participation in future elections.
We, as a foundation and an NFDI member, further commit ourselves to keeping elected political leaders accountable, not only to their election promises but also in fulfilling their responsibilities as prescribed by our Constitution. It must be stressed in the run-up to this important general election that democracy is not an exercise that occurs once every five years.
Citizens and civil society organisations must remain engaged between elections on issues relating to the government.
We urge all South Africans to celebrate our constitutional democracy tomorrow. Cast your vote, embrace the fact that you’re able to vote and do so responsibly.