Former exile finds fault with ‘elite democracy’
CHENGIAH Rogers Ragaven, 79, who returned home to South Africa last year after living in the US for many years, will not be exercising his democratic right to vote.
Despite spending years in exile during the fight to achieve the right to vote, Professor Ragaven will not cast a ballot this year.
Ragaven, an academic, said he could not vote until South Africa became a “true democracy”.
“I voted once in my whole life,” he said. “This so-called ‘democracy’ remains in the hands of the elites — the World Bank, Wall Street, the US military, government elites, theological and mafia gangsters and a whole lot of other institutions . . . Modern democracy, controlled by the elites and the banks, is not what it was meant to be.”
Ragaven said all political candidates in South Africa should be held responsible for the views they project to the voting public.
“We should have a panel on television to question each spokesperson of the parties as to what they hope to do both inside parliament and as a pressure group outside, to achieve that specific goal,” he said.
“We need to check their statements over the past 20 years.
“Who are the parliamentary candidates and what grassroots activities have they on record?
“We must challenge their vague answers on subjects like education, the economy, and jobs.”
Ragaven added: “Parliament is an elite club with people who have little idea of governance and social realities, locally or abroad.”