Political parties are in full swing, trying their best to convince me, and the rest of South Africa, to vote for them.
And the mindless drivel being spewed is reaching epic proportions. Voters compared to good wines, thanking specific cultural groups for participation and stating categorically (from one party) that they do not
hate white people.
Personally, I feel the minute you have to make the statement “I’m not racist, but…” shows you are a racist. The same applies to making the formal proclamation that you don’t hate white people. I never thought you did
before, but now I do.We have some truly colourful parties and characters in South Africa, from the Eternally Frightful Fighters to the Dominant Arses. We also have the Absolutely No Clue group and the COPEing party. We have Agang, which I read as a gang, communists, socialists and everything in between.
So who do we choose? Do we go for JZ, only to have him look at building Nkandla number two, or do we take the woman with a ‘doek’ on her head? Do we go for Julius, who could be in court real soon, or do we go for the Freedom Front gentlemen, who have great policies, but tend to be a bit narrow in their outlook on life in South Africa?
It is almost like choosing your favourite chocolate – so many options, each offering something another chocolate bar doesn’t have.
How on Earth, with all these options, do we make a choice? Do we vote for the now, like getting land for free, or do we vote for the future – 10 to 20 years down the line? Given the current mess the ANC has made, I am
more inclined to go with another party. And this choice has nothing to do with race, prejudice or the like. It has to do with the rampant corruption, poor policy decisions and ‘help-your-buddy’ notions. How many local municipalities are being investigated? More than 60 percent I believe. That is shocking to say the least. And even more insulting, is the fact that few ministers or mayors actually face jail time for the wrongs they have committed.
Let’s just put something into perspective – the money disappearing thanks to corruption is our money, the tax payer. We could actually go to the police and open up a charge of theft – you do all realise this, right? We pay our taxes and we have the reasonable expectation that the money will go towards projects benefitting the people of the country, not Nkandla and the like.
Another horribly ill-considered decision was e-tolling. This system has driven up the cost of everything, from petrol to food. This means less disposable income for people, which means less money in circulation and
less money being used to further other economic ventures, like purchasing items from stores. This in turn impacts the store owners. So you see, one bad idea has a massive knock-on effect, which is already being felt.
I say take a bazooka and blow the gantries to pieces. Then invite residents to roast marshmellows over the flames. Just think of the bonfire we could create! Or transform the gantries into speed monitoring facilities – permanent, multi-lane speed cameras. The police could then also track stolen vehicles, unroadworthy vehicles and over-loaded vehicles much more efficiently.
But I digress, I guess the chance to do some more e-bashing on the tolls was just too good to pass up.
I think it is only a matter of time before these failed policies bite the ruling party in the posterior. I think the days of the ANC are numbered. Not perhaps in the coming elections, but for the future. Already,the lustre of the title ‘a struggle party’ is waning, and all too soon, people will realise that few, if any, of the policies in the last 20 years are sustainable.
Just a little aside – what did South Africans use before candles? Electricity.
That should tell us all we need to know about the past 20 years.
So vote wisely my fellow readers, use this opportunity to lead South Africa down a better path for all. @TheMadSub
