Written by: Errol Naidoo
Article source: familypolicyinstitute.com
Reports suggests more than a million citizens registered to vote on day one of the 18/19 November voter registration weekend. Although encouraging, these numbers are dwarfed by the estimated 18 million registered voters that chose not to vote in previous General Elections.
Growing voter apathy is a threat to any democracy. Millions of voters have lost faith in government as corruption, theft, fraud, money laundering and gross maladministration has pushed the country to the brink of a failed state. Rampant corruption, growing unemployment, deepening poverty and staggering governance failures has left millions of citizens despondent.
Significantly, however, this presents the Christian Church with an opportunity to encourage its members to not only register to vote in next year’s General Elections but ensure they vote for change. Critically, political change in South Africa is no longer a mere wish – but a matter of survival. All the signs indicate the nation will not survive another 5 years of ANC misrule.
President Cyril Ramaphosa recently acknowledged that “corruption has wounded our democracy and shaken people’s faith in our institutions. If corruption is not arrested, the greatest damage will not be in the funds stolen, the jobs lost or the services not delivered, the greatest damage will be to the belief in democracy itself.” Increasing lower voter turnout at previous Elections prove this.
However, despite Ramaphosa’s eloquence on the corrosive nature of corruption on the nation, he has failed to use the considerable powers the constitution grants him to end corruption in his own administration. Recommendations from the R1 billion Zondo Commission gathers dust while senior ANC cadres implicated in serious crimes still enjoy high-paying public positions.
Chief Justice Raymond Zondo decried the slow pace of the establishment of new institutions to safeguard the state against capture 16 months after he handed in the final instalment of the report. This again proves Ramaphosa governs in the best interest of the ANC – and not citizens.
A new Harvard University study reveals how the ANC’s bankrupt ideology, destructive cadre deployment policy (and resulting corruption) has collapsed state capability and triggered horrendous social consequences that deprives the country of enormous growth potential.
A major contributor to South Africa’s economic decline is governments inability to provide consistent and reliable energy supply to both citizens and business. Sikonathi Mantshantsha correctly states, “The ANC – and the ANC only – is responsible for the electricity crisis.”
In fact, the collapse of critical public infrastructure, the decline of a once thriving economy, the failure of most municipalities to deliver basic services, the degradation of the health and education sector and soaring crime and corruption rates are direct results of ANC malfeasance.
In addition, the governing party has demonstrated a callous disregard for the sufferings of millions of poor and destitute citizens. The levels of hunger among children in the ANC Eastern Cape stronghold is so dire, the Human Rights Commission has demanded government declare a disaster. A UCT study indicates more than 8 million children suffer from malnutrition in SA.
Contrast this with reports that passengers on Ramaphosa’s presidential jet enjoyed lavish meals and drinks at a cost of R24,000 per head. Tax-payer funds are routinely misused for ANC benefit.
The ANC regime is demonstrably incapable of governing a modern democracy like South Africa. Its crimes against the people of South Africa are intolerable. That’s why the ANC must be rejected at the polls in 2024 – along with its ideological stepchild, the EFF. The vote, therefore, is change.
The 2024 General Elections is shaping up to be the most consequential event in South Africa’s young democracy. Similar to 1994, the nation faces a crossroads. A change in government will signal a fresh start and potential revival for SA. Tragically, the status quo indicates disaster.
That is why every good citizen that loves this country must work together to bring about change. The Church played a pivotal role in the peaceful transition from apartheid to democracy. It is called upon once again to rescue the nation from certain disaster. Pray, Vote, Stand in 2024.
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Date published: 21/11/2023
Feature image: Image for illustrative purposes only. Artwork adapted from unsplash.com
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