After discursive consultation with the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), president Cyril Ramaphosa proclaimed on 21 April, that the Municipal Elections will be held on 27 October. A statement from the Presidency further alludes: “The president urges all eligible – and especially first-time voters – to ensure they are registered to participate in the elections which provide for the basis for development and service delivery closest to where citizens live”.
As expected, that presidential proclamation generated a fiercely contentious public discussion among citizens. Some political parties, especially the EFF, did not waste any time in criticising the decision to host Municipal Elections in the midst of the rampaging Covid-19.
Julius Malema’s fiery red berets are charging that “political parties are not yet technically and logistically ready to undertake online campaigning for votes”. They further bemoan: “The old traditional methods of lobbying, canvassing and campaigning are no longer appropriate in the times of Covid-19. And unfortunately, most political parties have not yet mastered the art of online and digital campaigning for votes.”
At superficial level, these anti-election arguments may seem genuine and relevant to the epochal circumstances of our times. But at empirical and judicious level, these dissenting arguments are lacking in substantive reasoning and pragmatic rationalism.
Last year and early this year the IEC conducted several successful by-elections in various provinces across the country. Ironically, the EFF and some anti-Election political parties actively participated in all the mentioned by-elections. Please bear in mind that all these by-elections were held in the full midst of the raging Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore the question: Why are some parties opposed to hosting the forthcoming Municipal Elections when they have actually participated in recent by-elections? Anti-Election political parties are using Covid-19 as an evasive ploy to overstay their welcome in municipal offices. We must never allow pseudo-politicians to use scar-mongerism tactics (fear of Covid-19) as a weapon to remain in political office forever. Citizens have an inalienable right to vote in Municipal Elections every five years.
Truthfully and observably, these dissenting political parties are actually motivated by populist self-interest rather than any genuine considerations of Covid-19.
Global epidemiologists have adviced humanity to learn to live and co-exist with the novel Coronavirus. In spite of the ferocious Coronavirus, our lives must continuously go on.
