At War With Our Beliefs - [website] Published: 5th of May 2011 by: (c) Staff Training Reporter
The political battle in South Africa between the ANC and DA is becoming more intense...
... as the 18th of May draws nearer, and we seem to be a nation divided.
Judging by the (often racist) comments on South African news sites both the ANC and the DA have their die-hard members ready to do textual battle with each other – achieving very little yet saying quite a lot – and the stubborn ignorance of some of these people is absolutely shocking.
I don't profess to be all politically clued up (although I do read the news), and I don't really care which party you vote for.
I think you should care about which party you vote for, though, and I expect it to be a decision you've reached all on your own – not just because it's Mr Zuma or Ms Zille that told you who to vote for.
But this really doesn't seem to be the case; it's like people's minds were made up perhaps the first time they voted and they've stuck with that party through thick and thin.
People are voting for nothing more than an acronym, it seems, and it's as if by voting for a specific party first time around that in itself secured your vote for them for ever more. No more do these people vote for policies but rather they have pledged their allegiance to their respective parties, becoming “members for life”, which really makes no sense at all.
The thing is, no one owns your vote and you're entitled to change it whenever you want, and if things aren't going the way you expected them to then you really should consider changing your vote.
This goes for all parties, of course, and it's kind of the point of holding elections...
As far as the underhanded tactics to get votes go, I'm saddened by what South Africa's political parties have been capable of. Focus is so far from where it should be that come election time all we see are parties badmouthing, sabotaging and undermining each other, where really they should be putting their best foot forward and showing us how they intend to run the country.
If things carry on like this I wouldn't be surprised if people threw caution to the wind and spend their votes on the Dagga Party instead, who at least wouldn't mind if you lit one up while watching the glorious showdown.
