After reading an opinion piece by T O Molefe, ‘Why you should spoil your ballot next year’, I realised why South Africans need to realise the importance of understanding politics and not falling for politricks.
Since a colleague of mine once said he decided not to take any political stance ‘because politics have now become politricks’; I realised the need for the public to understand that if they have no say in politics, politicians will dictate what kind of government we will have.
Unlike politics, politricks manipulate the public for votes, instead of giving them hope for a better country to live in. A country engulfed with politricks is probably the reason why Mr Molefe believes voting is ‘probably the least effective way to participate in this democracy’; along with other South Africans.
After hearing a number of people question the ‘point of voting if nothing ever changes’, Molefe sounds like a man who has a point.However, he is mistaken; along with many other people. We need to cast our minds back to 1994, when we had leaders we could look up to, politicians who were committed to serving every South African with distinction. I cannot begin to explain the initial work former President Nelson Mandela began…
We voted because we believed in change.
We voted because we had hope.
Our beliefs and dreams were rewarded by leaders then; unfortunately, with time, we lost confidence in our leaders.
Although I understand our unhappiness about the current leadership, there is no reason we should allow someone else to tell us what kind of government we deserve.
This will happen, should anyone listen to the advice of Mr Molefe.
As I began by saying, voting is not the destination, voting is only the beginning; our democratic responsibility goes beyond voting at the polls, we have to continuously demand accountability.
It is our duty make sure our leaders deliver the promises they make. It is also our responsibility to actively engage in matters that affect us most.
Let us not be like sleeping giants pushed around by others who have no interest in serving the country as they promised they would, it is time to rise up and speak up about the kind of government we truly deserve.
Edmund Burke said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
