Be careful with your vote as dishonesty abounds
WITH each passing day, the country that was once the jewel of the world disintegrates further as the politicians and their willing accomplices decimate all the pillars of what was to be a great government and an even greater country.
Who could have imagined the South Africa of today when we cast our first free and democratic vote on that fateful autumn day in 1994?
While we may boast of a democratic order, it does not exist.
The proportional representation system of placing public representatives into office clearly defies the premise of a democracy.
A government of, by and for the people should be exactly that.
Any nominated position is an aberration of true democracy.
Our current political status is both worrisome and is fast becoming an incubus of frightening proportions.
It has become commonplace these days to note as writers, the media and even the commoner inveigh prolifically against the proper governance – or lack thereof – of a country with almost limitless potential for real greatness.
Retrospectively the honeymoon era of South Africa was just that. Our mercurial mascot, one (former president) Nelson Mandela, imbued hope, faith and belief as a portent.
It was going to be an almost never-ending rainbow. But alas, the imperfection of a glorious dream!
We were permitted to dream again, if only that. But reality tells another story. The ANC, putatively touted as our own salvation army against the heinous system of apartheid, has reneged on all things good.
Little did we know that those who lurked as freedom fighters and who were going to be the flags of true, fair and honest governance, were actually demons-in-waiting ready to purloin from the very people they purported to “serve”.
Our leadership has reached ominous depths of degradation and the abyss deepens daily.
President Jacob Zuma, as the captain of the ship, is leading us astray with grave repetition, much like a contagion that has no end – and he does it with a demeaning and imperious hubris that is frightening.
The majority of the people of South Africa, sadly, have not had the opportunities for a “better life” since 1994, while a small minority of the “previously disadvantaged” have relished the new order – so much so that many in this elite have become millionaires and even billionaires in a very short space of time.
It is moot to constantly ply on the jobbery that is taking place at almost every echelon of the government, without taking action.
If the pleas are falling on deaf ears, then the hoi polloi need to act – and the lip service given to idealisms of good governance has long passed its expiry date.
The litmus test now is simple – action. The Arab Spring taught us deadly lessons that emanate from mass violent uprisings.
The consequences are too dastardly to contemplate, but we have a tool that powers the best of us under the worst situations – our franchise.
As a result of our historical past, many still labour on misguided loyalties to continuously repeat mistakes in the hope of that “better life” and the gravitas of such misguided loyalties is that we perforce destroy a potentially better future.
We are no more a country of black, white, blue or green. We are a country of people – of a common humanity, and allowing men and women who ride roughshod over us for their own selfish agendas is totally unacceptable.
Any disaffection one may feel against past loyalties or any perceived betrayal one may think one commits if one has to change in terms of political views, must be measured against the greater good of this country and its people.
The time is nigh when we become truly active in deciding our fate and not yield to a sense of effeteness that will ultimately deny those generations yet unborn a fair opportunity to a better life.
With apologies to William Shakespeare, the ANC is “preying upon itself like monsters of the deep”, yet we all become the victims. Let the power of the “X” be with you.