The upcoming elections for South Africa 2019, are literally just around the corner. And yet many are still undecided – do we blame them? There is still so much uncertainty and fear and hopelessness around the state of our country.
For the first time ever, I decided to actually go through the entire list of registered parties, you know just for fun. All 47 of them! However, whilst going through each manifesto, a high level overview of what each party wishes to achieve, I have to admit, I started to feel rather uneasy, almost choked by a darkness that seems to be the plague of today’s world. It leaves you feeling almost entirely helpless.
I decided that if I write about all 47 parties I would probably find myself on the brink of suicide, so these are just a few parties South Africans have to decide between.
Note: I have added a few of my own opinions, be it sarcastic or not, but its important for us to know who we are voting for and why!
Let’s begin:
African National Congress (ANC). Currently led by Cyril Ramaphosa. A man worth more than R6 billion with questionable and speculative business dealings, including allegations regarding illegal coal deals with Eskom. We have load shedding. We have government officials stealing money blatantly without consequence. We have extreme poverty and exceptionally low levels of education. We have crime beyond belief. And yet all the ANC presidents could not put an end to any of this. The current economic situation has gotten exponentially worse, not better. Surely the question to ask is how, after 25 years of ANC leadership does one continue to vote them in?!
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). Known as the sons of the soil. Ironic that they don’t want to lift a finger and actually earn pay from a hard day’s work. It’s much easier just to take from those who have actually done the work, built a home, saved for rainy days and even positively contributed to the economy. This may come as a shock to Julius Malema, but soil needs to be worked and taken care of, if it is going to produce anything viable with value to contribute to the economy. Fighting will get you nowhere (#sarcastic).
Democratic Alliance (DA). What can I say?! Maybe the DA simply means ‘Disappointment assured’. They stand for service delivery and jobs in every home, secure streets and borders, and eliminating corruption. It sounds perfect! The one concern here is what have they actually done to achieve this to date, especially the corruption elimination! Big talk, little action?
Aljama. Yes that’s right, Alijama. Sounds like we are about to have a Muslim pyjama party. This Muslim driven party insists that they can play a sincere and positive role! Is South Africa not a declared Christian country? Why should we vote in a religious cult that subtly infiltrates every country around the world? A dominance that was not asked for in this country.
Better Residents Association (BRA). Sounds a little like an association of people who think they are better than others, while they drink cocktails and earl grey tea. It gives the impression of those living in an Estate with a luxurious golf course, forever gossiping about the next door neighbour. Don’t take it personally if you do live in a nice Estate. This party however, is led by a Delta Mokoena who, just by the way, is serving a ten year prison sentence for vigilantism. Taking matters into your own hands is a serious choice, one that needs to be carefully evaluated and lawfully acted upon. Would you want a leader like this?
Compatriots of South Africa. A party supporting the expropriation of land without compensation, specifically for the Khoi, San, Griqua and Bushmen people. May I just say that if there are any men and women part of these cultures who are still alive today when their land was supposedly taken from them, then let them come forward and take it up with the men and women who actually took their land in the first place. In other words, this could never be resolved as it was in another time, under another rule, different economic situations and different regimes. People, open your eyes and try to at least understand we cannot blame those of us here today, black or white, for the sins committed by those of the past. We can however, try make a positive difference in the decisions we make today.
Forum for Service Delivery. A party that simply promises change by wanting to offer housing vouchers up to R200 000 to deserving citizens and at the same time pushing for expropriation of land, while expelling all foreign citizens from the country. Change indeed, but with what logic and economic understanding? This party outright stands for racism and willing to do everything it can despite basic human rights. It steals from one and questionably gives to another. Service delivery with a wad of stolen notes! #Did I say that out loud?!
Good. Patricia de Lille fighting corruption and stamping down racism, with a proposal that aims to empower towns and cities to build their own communities that are safe and prosperous. You go girl! Sounds promising. Sounds good. How this will be achieved I am not sure but maybe worth looking into.
Land Party. This party has been inspired by China and wishes to mimic means and ways of a totally different country, culture and economic stability by creating all equal in respect of rights and tackling the gap between the rich and poor. I’m guessing something like – take more from those that have earned and worked hard and give to those that have done nothing and could not be bothered to at least try?! A true communistic approach. Extremely doubtful of a positive outcome here.
Patriotic Alliance (PA). Interestingly enough, this party is founded by a one-time convicted bank robber who offers hope in the form of this party being a credible alternative to the DA and ANC. But how? One would ask. Credible? From bank robberies to? What’s next? Patriotism can lead to dangerous actions which often override values and moral ethics. Why? Because it is driven by greed and want for self.
Woman Forward (WF). Founded by Albert Luthuli’s grand daughter, out of the ANC. This party is all about equity and equality regarding women’s rights, especially with gender-based violence. It’s a good concept, but estrangement of men from a country that is in dire help of economic improvement is certainly not the answer. We need men and women to take a stand.
Freedom Front Plus. This party offers hope to build a better future of hard work and steering away from the ‘give me, give me, give me’ mentality. Sounds like a difficult task but I do like the sound of this. I mentioned the greed component earlier and maybe this party has seen the root cause of why our country is indeed in dire straits.
Free Democrats. All about promoting private health care and interestingly even founded by a neurologist. I am certainly not sure how a neurologist and a politician find anything in common, but yes health care is vital. Especially with the pending NHI.
African Covenant (ACO). Headed up by Convy Baloyi, this party calls for the death penalty for murder and abortions! Taking matters into their own hands, they have assured us that supernaturally this party will be in power after the elections. Arrogance is often driven by greed, but we will indeed see.
Alzanian People Organisation (AZAPO). To force change and give hope to black people. Fair enough but where is the equality and basic human rights factor? What about the white people? This party goes way back to 1978 where most the leaders were imprisoned after the numerous black consciousness movements in 1977. I was far too young to even know about this but again, here we see a party dwelling on the past, claiming rights against people who didn’t even have a hand or voice in those decisions that were made. Seriously?!
African Content Movement (ACM). Headed up by the one and only Hlaudi Motsoeneng, the former acting COO of the SABC. The same man who lied about his qualifications and got sacked. A liar on all fronts with additional accusations of racism, dishonesty, disruption and policy violations. How can the country have any confidence in this man or his party? Clearly he is a happy chappie but don’t be fooled, no contentment will ever come from having a dishonest liar in power.
African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP). Headed up by Reverend Kenneth Meshoe, the ACDP seeks to honour God while putting the people’s needs at the center of its polices. Honouring God should have God at the center not people! Their website also compares what they promote compared to other parties and yet nowhere do we read or see any of these men and women of God on their knees in prayer instead of trying to outdo the other political opponents.
So there you have it. An overview of only seventeen of the parties. It would appear our country has top quality leadership role models!
I’m not here to tell you what to do, but I do want to say that we need to ground ourselves in Godly values and morals and stick to them despite what the past dictates. We are the people of South Africa. We are the future. We must make wise choices. Just because everyone is corrupt and inherently driven by greed doesn’t mean it is right. Everyone doing wrong is wrong. This must be exposed.
I know this has been a fairly long read but I honestly recommend you listening to this Ted talk before election day:
Comments are most welcome.
