IT SEEMS that some us still think a boycott is the solution to most if not all the problems facing this country. I suspect that this has a lot to do with our past.
Boycotts have sort of, eh… worked for us in the past.
However, since then we have failed to build the skills needed for a democracy in the same manner that we encouraged our people to boycott, riot and engage the apartheid police in regular running battles.
Even after the negotiations of 1994, we did not seem to have encouraged ordinary people to use negotiation as a way of solving problems.
We did not impress it enough upon the ordinary South African that in order to negotiate, one must be knowledgeable both in processes and in factors which influence decisions about society.
Neither did we prepare and equip those in positions of leadership to respect and honour the negotiated approach in all matters of society.
In other words, we seem to have neglected the fundamentals which make a democratic society possible.
As long as we had the vote, we thought we had everything.
However, for a democratic society to work well, its citizens must not only be aware of their rights and responsibilities, but they must be practitioners of those rights and responsibilities. We must encourage one another to negotiate, attain knowledge and demand accountability using also, our vote, in the spirit of building South Africa.
A number of South Africans seems to think boycotting the vote is a legitimate way of expressing their anger at the failures of government.
These South Africans think it is useless to vote since the “vote” does not produce favourable results. However this is not just a vote, it is an ANC vote and eh…, it can be changed! This is one of the cornerstones of democracy.
All political parties should be required to teach this especially during election campaigns.
The vote can be changed, the vote must be changed when the party does not perform and the vote must be an indication of performance. However, that is not what we have heard from the ruling party.
What we have heard are statements ranging from, “if you vote for another party, the ancestors will turn their backs on you”, to “the ANC will rule until Jesus Christ comes back”.
These statements are not even remotely democratic. They are not even remotely true! However they betray an attitude which regards retaining power as the most important aspect of leading a country, even if it means empty promises and lies.
As long as it is possible for our people to boycott the vote, burn community halls, kill suspected rapists and barricade roads as a way of solving problems, we still have a long way to go. As long as we have a leadership that thinks it’s acceptable to make, eh…, “security upgrades” of over R204-million to the home of a president, buy votes with party T-shirts, food parcels, and a bottle of paraffin, we are failing South Africa.
It is through knowledge and the application of that knowledge that we can lift South Africa. In this case, it is the knowledge that it is voting not the withdrawal of a vote which can bring in new life and a new commitment in government.
Bantu Mniki is from Dutywa
Voting can still bring change to SA
Boycotts have sort of, eh… worked for us in the past.
However, since then we have failed to build the skills needed for a democracy in the same manner that we encouraged our people to boycott, riot and engage the apartheid police in regular running battles.
Even after the negotiations of 1994, we did not seem to have encouraged ordinary people to use negotiation as a way of solving problems.
We did not impress it enough upon the ordinary South African that in order to negotiate, one must be knowledgeable both in processes and in factors which influence decisions about society.
Neither did we prepare and equip those in positions of leadership to respect and honour the negotiated approach in all matters of society.
In other words, we seem to have neglected the fundamentals which make a democratic society possible.
As long as we had the vote, we thought we had everything.
However, for a democratic society to work well, its citizens must not only be aware of their rights and responsibilities, but they must be practitioners of those rights and responsibilities. We must encourage one another to negotiate, attain knowledge and demand accountability using also, our vote, in the spirit of building South Africa.
A number of South Africans seems to think boycotting the vote is a legitimate way of expressing their anger at the failures of government.
These South Africans think it is useless to vote since the “vote” does not produce favourable results. However this is not just a vote, it is an ANC vote and eh…, it can be changed! This is one of the cornerstones of democracy.
All political parties should be required to teach this especially during election campaigns.
The vote can be changed, the vote must be changed when the party does not perform and the vote must be an indication of performance. However, that is not what we have heard from the ruling party.
What we have heard are statements ranging from, “if you vote for another party, the ancestors will turn their backs on you”, to “the ANC will rule until Jesus Christ comes back”.
These statements are not even remotely democratic. They are not even remotely true! However they betray an attitude which regards retaining power as the most important aspect of leading a country, even if it means empty promises and lies.
As long as it is possible for our people to boycott the vote, burn community halls, kill suspected rapists and barricade roads as a way of solving problems, we still have a long way to go. As long as we have a leadership that thinks it’s acceptable to make, eh…, “security upgrades” of over R204-million to the home of a president, buy votes with party T-shirts, food parcels, and a bottle of paraffin, we are failing South Africa.
It is through knowledge and the application of that knowledge that we can lift South Africa. In this case, it is the knowledge that it is voting not the withdrawal of a vote which can bring in new life and a new commitment in government.
Bantu Mniki is from Dutywa
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