COLUMN: Commit to your mark

Who can forget the iconic aerial footage of snaking lines as South Africans of every race and creed waited to cast their vote in the country’s first democratic elections in 1994?

On April 27 of that year, 19.72 million registered voters proudly made their mark.

For many, it was their first time being able to choose the country’s leadership. It was a vote of hope for a better and equal future.

On May 29, an estimated 27.79 million registered voters, only 62% of eligible voters, will again head to the polls to participate in the seventh national election.

According to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), 350 political parties have successfully registered to contest nationally and provincially. (That is a lot of all-sorts to choose from)

Representatives of these parties have already taken to our city’s streets, turning streetlights into totem poles dedicated to their presidential and premiere candidates.

Party lines feature digs at the current leadership while making grandiose promises such as ending load-shedding and corruption.

Others solely turn their attention to first-time voters, the youth, promising free tertiary education and housing for their gogos who waited three decades for a house, land and endless opportunities.

I have voted four times, yet it seems it was merely a formality.

What has changed? Has my vote led leaders with integrity to rule our country? Do they have my best interests at heart? Do they care about my children’s future? My parent’s golden years?

Answers to some of these questions will be a resounding no. However, the question we should ask is: Have we held these leaders accountable?

Going into the upcoming elections, we are sure to hear politicians promising everything short of trips around the moon.

Some hands may be dripping with honey while the flies hover around their feet.

Stepping onto the soapbox the Benoni City Times affords me, I am clearing my throat to imitate an authoritative voice: fellow Benonians, this year, commit to your mark.

There is no denying our country is in a dire state. The state-owned entities (SOE) and local municipalities are bankrupt. Service delivery often seems like a tall order, and our economy is teetering at an all-time low. Crime, unemployment and poverty are rife.

It took 30 years for our country to get to this sad state, and we can only point fingers at those elected to hold power.

No matter the party, its leadership or their strategies, there is no quick turn-around solution.

Repairing the damage done at the hands of a skewed government will not happen overnight, no matter what the party manifesto claims.

If you are casting a vote for change, remember you need to commit to that vote for no less than the next 12 years.

To bring tangible change to our beautiful country, it will have to be raised like a new-born child.

Many undertakings will have to happen from the ground up, and the SOEs will have to learn to crawl before they can run.

Our economy will have to be weaned from its mounting debt and need feeding by thriving local businesses and industries.

Any party truly in touch with the Pandora’s box that is RSA will know that ruling this country will be less blue-light escorts and a more brutal slog.

If you have a clear idea next to which logo you will draw a cross, and if their redesign blueprint for our country resonates with your expectations, remain cognizant that to meet their goals, you must keep them at the helm of things for quite some time.

When depositing your ballot in the box, you, a voter and citizen, have the responsibility to keep the leadership accountable for delivering on its promises.

Shout, petition, question and repeat until they hear you and their actions meet their words.

To our politicians, note that your voters are not a flock of sheep.

We have been led and assure you that we are no longer comfortable with the roads you have taken.

You work for us, not the other way around. Never forget that.

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