Why I will NOT vote for the ANC tomorrow

I am going to vote in South Africa’s National General Elections tomorrow for the first time in 20 years, but it will not be for the ANC.

The reason can be stated simply in two words. Jacob Zuma.

Perhaps I should elaborate because contrary to Zuma’s most recent disingenuous attempt to paint himself as a victim, I have other reasons, and it’s not because I’m “bright.”

I am not worried about Nkandla. Not a single person said to us during the campaign they were worried about Nkandla. People are not worried about that. They don’t think it’s an issue that will affect how they vote. This is an issue raised by bright people [those who think they know better]. It has not worked. [Nkandla] is just a homestead of a man called Zuma who happened to become president. From when I became deputy president, I was told I couldn’t be in a car without bullet proof. It’s a benefit. Must I pay for those benefits? Why? When I go the United States, I use [state] aircraft. Must I pay for that? Why is it that the law has to change when we deal with Zuma.

I can’t be responsible for construction [at my house, and] that so-and-so inflated prices. How was I expected to see that? Where would I be when that happened? I am running the country.

Jacob Zuma has hijacked the ANC for his own personal benefit. To be fair, he did not do this single-handedly. He had lots of help from both inside this organization and outside. Were it not for other senior ANC members who likewise used public office for self-enrichment, most importantly, an apathetic and uncritical public, Zuma would not be at the helm of a once great organization that had admirers the world over.

The ANC is a shadow of its former self; it’s now evolved into a decrepit, self-serving, arrogant, tyrannical, dishonest, cronyistic and incompetent party. Yes, they have achieved much in 15 or so years, but the last five has seen the dramatic slide, which should in no way excuse the rot that has set in.

I could just tear my greying locks out in disgust as I watch daily how they prey on an adoring but uncritical public who they’ve locked into emotional blackmail. And this is the deal-breaker for me. The idea that the ANC has sole proprietorship on liberation from apartheid rule, is one that needs to be challenged most vociferously. The truth is that as many people from inside the ANC as outside, suffered through apartheid, fought for liberation and died too.

I read on another blog that we need to let the ANC continue governing because they have experience that other parties do not have. That is utter bullshit. Nelson Mandela did not have any experience at governing when he started out 20 years ago, and he did a great job. He had something I see so little off in the modern ANC; honesty and integrity.

Nelson Mandela’s vision was to share and build together with his former enemies; which is antithetical of Zuma’s apparent ploy to turn this country into a one-party state.

Vote wisely my friends; you will have to live with the consequences for another five years, possibly longer…

Shame, you voted like an ass and now you’re pissed…

There’s been a lot of crap going down politically in South Africa the last couple of weeks, but I’ve restrained myself from venting because I may just be partly responsible.

You see, I did not vote in the last general elections through sheer disgust for the politicians. I now know what an ass I’d been and I’m not making that mistake again when the polling stations opens for the general elections early next year.

The kleptocracy in charge have been taking the public for granted the last four years, as they did the previous five years, and the five years before that. Their total and utter disdain for the citizens of this country has reached alarming proportions, but the real shocker is the terrifying reality that we appear for all intents and purposes, to be embarrassingly impotent to do anything about it.

Oh sure, we’ve ranted online on social media, participated in a few protest marches, added our names to those useless petitions and polls. But what’s the point if the only people really listening are those most affected, not the perps. Preaching to the choir, what?

The awful truth is that the politicians in charge don’t give a shit. If anyone has not realised this by now, they’re immensely dense.

We only have a fleeting hold on power – on election day and then we relinquish it when the winners are comfortably settled into office. Power to the people then simply evaporates and becomes power to the politicians.

We are given this once chance to dump the bastards in office, but do we use it wisely? The last two election results reveal that we’re quite happy to be ruled by thieves, immoral, incompetent,  sycophantic, self-serving, pompous assholes, and yes, psycho’s too. And the crazy thing is that the very people who are short-changed the most, are the most likely to vote for the most undeserving of politicians.

So, you have a chance once again to change things; grasp it and choose wisely. That’s the only chance you’ll get for another five years as you grin and bear it.

Photo credit: Thompson Rivers

An Open Letter to Those Who Voted ANC

Dear South African voter,

This letter is aimed especially at you, you… and you. Yes, you who voted for the ANC repeatedly since 1994 – even after the whiff of the rotting carcass became overpowering.

There, there! It’s all right! I guess you couldn’t possibly know how many maggots were crawling around and living off that putrefying pile of pus. But now you do, don’t you?

You got your democracy. And it felt satisfying. Funny thing that. Really no better than a monarchy or aristocracy or dictatorship when managed by madmen, or power-hungry revolutionaries. But hey, it sounds less evil than apartheid, right? And why not? You get the satisfaction of seeing Black people go one up on the Whities for perpetrating acts of gross insanity.

How could you know that the politicians selected by the party, pretending to represent you, would grow fat with such ease on the taxes that you pissed stones to contribute to the country? How could you know that the treasury could spring so many leaks while in the control of the ANC? Why should reports of their profligate spending of R5 billion on catering, travel and entertainment be such a big deal? Even fat farks deserve a little pampering, right? And you can’t trust these Whitie newspapers to tell the truth, can you?

So R5 billion could have been used to build 1000’s of houses and pay for some services too. So what? It’s only Whities who are complaining. They’ve all got houses and services. They should all just shut the fark up and let us get on with not having any. Right?

Wait! What!

Are you seriously okay with being an average plonker who’s content with things as they are? Well, are you? Do you know how you’re affecting me with your antipathy, stupidity, or ignorance. Even if you don’t care about me, I do. But what about your children?

Are you also content to see them inherit a country ruined by ANC arrogance, incompetence and greed? Well? Are you?

You know what you need to do at the next elections. Don’t fark up again!

Up Yours,

Lenny

My decision to vote again: Conclusion

Yes, I’ve done it – cast a vote again after 17 years of watching in dismay as the politicians slowly set about ruining the country.

Only now I’ve voted AGAINST the main culprits, the ANC. Somehow that feels so liberating. It’s probably not going to hurt the ANC, but it’s my way of telling them to fuck themselves.

There is a glimmer of hope from what I’ve seen thus far, that the party I voted for will turn things around. But it also hinges on many others also favoring them – hopefully enough votes of confidence in enough local councils across the country to give them the required majorities to run local government the way it should be.

However, I now also realize that my responsibility does not end with just voting. Now comes perhaps the most important part of democracy – holding the successful office bearers responsible and accountable for delivering the services for which we pay taxes. This will require a little diligence and some snooping around to find out what the elected councillors are NOT DOING. Then it’s a matter of exposing their failings and demanding redress, using whatever legal means available.

The candidate I voted for is in for a nasty ride should he win the election in my local district. I’m going to ensure that he understands that he is a civil servant and his candidacy means that I basically “own” him for his term of office. He’s going to know who’s paying his salary because I’m going to remind him frequently. He’s going to know that he’s expected to be a councillor from 9 to 5 every day, and not a part-time manager of a football team while he’s in office. He’s going to get phone calls even at night…when services are not delivered on time.

It’s time that we all made sure that elected officials know that they will not be getting fat on our watch. Let’s put them to work…

I care about the future of my country…not the future of a political party

It’s finally here. One more sleep until the election that’s being billed as a watershed event in the recent history of South African politics. But will it be?

Oh, it’s just a local government election, nothing as dramatic as the election of the first Black President in the USA, but it’s a very important event in the history of South African politics. Seventeen years of democratic [I’m not amenable to that word] elections has produced a pattern of voting that hasn’t changed all that much.

But tomorrow, will South Africans vote with maturity for the first time, or will they continue to vote emotionally along narrow racial and egotistical lines like they’ve always done in the history of voting in this country?

The two main contenders up for elections are the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the African National Congress (ANC). The hundreds [yes, democracy tends to become farcical] of other parties and independent candidates vying for contention will get a small percentage of the vote, but will become irrelevant in the larger scale of things. But they’re important nonetheless, catering for either refined thinkers on the one hand and self-seeking interests on the other.

The DA and the ANC have both conducted intensive election campaigns in the run up to this elections. While both had their unsavory moments, one in particular conducted a particularly nasty campaign that set new standards of low for electioneering, in this country at least.

The ANC being the dominant party continued to make the same promises which they have been making for the last 17 years and broken repeatedly. Their campaign featured elements of the bizarre on far too many occasions – contending that a vote for the ANC was a guarantee of a ticket to heaven, and pandering to the superstitious inclinations of the older generation of the vast Black population by stating quite falsely that their deceased elders would be angered if the ANC was not favored in the election. These were among the more despicable acts perpetrated during their increasingly desperate campaign. The ANC campaign was also noteworthy for the manner in which it manipulated emotions and entrenched racial divisions in the country. In short, the ANC did a remarkable job of promoting themselves, at the expense of the country as a whole.

The DA campaign on the other hand, while not standing out as a shining beacon for morality and potential good governance, was at least realistic and concentrated on what local elections are all about – service delivery. They did not stoop to the abominable depths of using religion and culture to gift-wrap their campaign; instead they focussed on highlighting their successes at local municipalities where they were in control. The important thing for me was that they were convincing about their concern for the future of the country.

And that is where the ANC failed dismally. They merely managed to convince me that they were more concerned about protecting their own self-serving interests by retaining power both nationally and locally. Anyone who actually bothers to analyse performance and can see through the myriad deceptions that politicians routinely employ, will realise that the ANC does not deserve to be trusted with a vote of confidence.

For this reason, I will not vote for them tomorrow, but will trust the DA to prove that they deserve a chance at local government.

And so I went to register to vote…

Having made the important decision to participate in this years’ local government elections, I set aside Saturday to go through the process of registering. Little did I realise what was in store for me.

I live in a little backwater town – people outside town probably have smallholdings which are larger. The local civic centre is normally used as a registration point and voting station; at least that’s what I still remembered from the national government elections in 1994. I arrived at the civic centre and was told that I could not register there because I lived in the new part of town. So I was directed to another registration point at a local school in the new part of town.

When I got there, some men standing outside the school in ANC t-shirts beckoned for me to come over. In my mind I told them to fuck off, but the words that actually came out my mouth were “I’m fine thanks; I’m just here to register and will find everything on my own.”

I met an Independent Electoral Commission official inside the school who I remembered as a former colleague at the company I’m employed at. He directed me to two ladies at a desk who proceeded to make a cursory check to see if I was on the voter’s roll, even after telling them that I had last voted in 1994 and was most likely not listed. Images of Zimbabwe’s voters roll containing dead and ancient people flashed through my mind.

Having lost my “green” identity document fuck knows when, I produced my passport and was handed a registration form. The IEC official wasn’t sure if this was acceptable proof of identification and thumbed furiously through a handbook to find the relevent clause which would permit me to register or not. He found what he was looking for and pronounced that my passport was an invalid identity document. He advised me to get a temporary identity document, presumably from the Department of Home Affairs or Local Affairs or whatever the fuck these useless bureaucrats call themselves these days.

Now this is a first for me. My passport is accepted everywhere else in South Africa as a valid identity document, even the fucking banks, and you know how anal they can be about something like that. But the fucking IEC does not think it is valid! I know the IEC did not dream this idiotic requirement up themselves. No, they must surely have had help; and this bureaucratic dumbfuckery smacks of government interference.

So now I have to get a fucking temporary identity document that will have the same details and (if I can still find it) the same photograph as my passport as well. All to please these idiotic IEC officials and presumably the fucker’s in government as well.

But I’m not defeated yet – I’ll be back…

Why I'm going to vote again after 16 years

courtesy Wikipedia

The first time I voted in an election, was back in 1994, generally regarded as South Africa’s first truly democratic elections. That was also the last time I voted.

It was a euphoric moment and my expectations were high; maybe too high. Soon thereafter I came to really know the vile creature known commonly as a politician. The ANC who were voted into power by a substantial margin, wasted no time in mutating into that which they had fought against, that which we who were disenfranchised, had all grown to despise.

I watched in despair and anger over the years as the politicians lied, cheated, deceived, stole, cajoled, pledged, broke their promises and then lied, cheated, deceived, stole, cajoled and pledged some more. Poor Democracy! He was getting it up the rear in equal measure to Lady Justice who was constantly being raped. As the politicians cheered this sodomy and rape of our constitutional and justice systems respectively, their proselytes and beneficiaries licked their lips in glee, while the majority of the people wrapped themselves tighter in ignorance, or just did not give a shit.

I decided to abstain from voting; abstain from endorsing this sick process.

However, recent events around the continent where despots were being hounded out of office, and the current demonstrations in Egypt, against a resolute scumbag in office, have compelled me to review my decision. I have decided to look at the voting process philosophically, rather than with anger. Instead of viewing my vote as FOR a political party, I now view it as AGAINST a particular party; the incumbent ruling party which has been the source of my disdain.

I now realise that it is imperative to send a loud and clear message to these cretins that we’ve had enough. We may not be able to dislodge them entirely, but at least we could weaken them somewhat.

I now realise that this is much better than the alternative – rioting and demonstrating in the streets of South Africa 10 years from now, to force them out.

How to win elections and intimidate people

Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe may not have written the book yet on electoral manipulation, but its fundamental precepts are well-known all over Africa and other parts of the world that are afflicted by, and so easily succumb to, dictatorial rule.

And just like the blurb on the bestselling Dale Carnegie book, Mugabe knows: How to go after the election you want…and win it! Take the dictatorship you have…and make it more brutal! Take any situation you’re in…and make it seem like the fault of white colonialism!

It’s no surprise to learn therefore that:

After conducting an audit of the [electoral] roll, the ZESN [Zimbabwe Election Support Network] reported that 27% of people registered to vote were dead.

The computer test revealed that 2 344 people born between 1901 and 1909, therefore aged between 101 and 110 years, were on the voters’ roll.

Nine people born between 1890 and 1900, aged between 111 and 120 years, are registered voters.

The ZESN report found that 41% of voters had moved without updating their details

About 52% of men were registered, compared with 48% of women. This is unusual considering there are more women in the country than men.

Young people were underrepresented, with only 18% registered.

I don’t how the ZESN managed to painstakingly collate all this information, considering that the ZANY-PF government “maintained only paper editions of the [voters’] register,” but it makes for frightening reading.

It makes one wonder what sort of machinations the incumbent SA-government are up to, ahead of local government elections, and national elections scheduled for next year. With their penchant for dipping their fingers regularly in the public cooky jar, their love for power and the determination to keep it all costs,  crooking the books is not beyond them either…and yes, they’re very chummy with one Robert Gabriel Mugabe, to boot.

South Sudan freedom…so close

The secession vote is going well in South Sudan; it looks inevitable that they will soon be free to form a new country with a new leader.

My only fear is that the people cruelly become the victims of yet another despotic regime. It’s happened so many times before, it’s become quite routine for Africa.

They all seem to start out as liberators…let’s hope for the best.