As the country counts down to the general elections on May 29, Lowvelder had an interview with the Southern Africa Tourism Services Association’s (Satsa) chairperson, Oupa Pilane, and the former ANC treasurer-general and the first premier of Mpumalanga, Dr Mathews Phosa.
In a statement he made last year, Phosa said his prediction was that South Africa faces the prospect of a coalition government in 2024.
During the interview with him on Tuesday May 7, he said the possibility of facing a coalition is still there. According to him, this will not be the first time that a coalition happens in South Africa.
He referred to the ANC and National Party coalition that happened in 1994, in which the ANC did not win all nine provinces, but seven.
“It is not something new, and there shouldn’t be drama about coalitions. The ANC went into coalition with the National Party. The spirit should be that of building a nation, reconciling a nation and prosperity for all, both black and white. People who are in elections who win and those who do not win must all be magnanimous in victory and in defeat; that is, to accept defeat and support the new government. It is not about the ANC, it is about the people and it is about the country,” he said.
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Phosa said his message to the people is that they must all go and vote.
“It took blood and sweat to fight for the right to vote. Let’s exercise that right. There must be no violence, it must be peaceful elections, we should all be law-abiding and respect the law and the outcome of the elections.”
Pilane said the upcoming elections are as important as the 1994 ones because the country is celebrating 30 years of democracy. “Everyone should go and vote as an appreciation of where we come from as a country, despite the challenges we have.”
He said looking at where the country currently is, it would be unfair if one does not mention the challenges the country is facing. “With all that said, we are better than where we were in 1994. It is only those who did not experience apartheid who will not appreciate where we are. As an activist, this is what we were fighting for, to be able to express ourselves,” he said.
Pilane said they are hoping that the elections can increase the number of tourists into the country. “They come to see how a country that was once divided conduct free and fair elections.”
He urged everyone who is campaigning to remember that after May 29, there is still a country that needs to be united.
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According to www.elections.org.za, this is how it works on election day:
• Go to the voting station at which you are registered (check your voter registration status to find out where you are registered).
• During national and provincial elections, you can vote at any station countrywide, but if you vote at a station outside the province in which you are registered, you can only vote in the national election. Show your green bar-coded South African ID or a temporary identification certificate to the voting officer.
• The voting officer checks that your name appears on the voters’ roll. Once the voting officer is satisfied that you have the correct ID, are a registered voter and have not already voted, your name is marked off the roll, your ID is stamped on the second page and your thumbnail is inked.
• The voting officer stamps the back of the correct number of official ballot papers (one per election) and gives them to you. Take your ballot paper(s) to an empty ballot booth, mark the ballot paper, fold it so that your choice isn’t visible and place the ballot paper in the ballot box.
The views expressed in this report are those of the relevant interviewees and the parties they represent, and are not held by this publication
