A poll to honour Tata

IT IS Mandela Day today and the occasion is celebrated days before the country goes to the polls in probably the most contested local government elections since the dawn of our democracy in 1994.

There is more vibrancy with a stronger opposition that includes independent candidates jostling to capture the heart of the voters with the dominant ANC.

Now more than ever, leaders are being put under intense scrutiny about their ability to keep electoral promises, which can only be a plus for voters.

For a very long time we had a crutch in Nelson Mandela as the political status of our country was elevated to the level of his greatness and we all basked in the glory of having such a global icon among us.

For a while South Africans believed they had reached their political nirvana and we were the international flavour of the moment. Fast forward two decades later with political and economic woes driven by corruption besieging the country, and his death in 2013, South Africa is in state of a leadership vacuum that needs its citizens to turn the tide.

“After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb,” Mandela once said, referring to leadership.

We all know the journey to success is littered with a thousand hills and in taking lessons from Mandela, South Africa needs to know that each victory is a step to another challenge.

As we prepare to vote for political representatives that are crucial in making sure their political parties deliver basic service delivery to all, we need to learn from Madiba and the lessons his life story taught all of humanity.

Which characters and values do we want our ward councillors whose faces are beaming at us from street poles to espouse and how far are we willing to go as active citizenry to hold them to the highest standards with our civic participation and constant interrogation?