By Lurnay Tshabalala-Mavuso | 08 Nov | Politics
As South Africans we are very much exhausted of having to hope for a better and inclusive country that has been promised to us for a very long time. The hope has been slowly dying and at this point in time we are playing a game of ping-pong, only having thought that whether we win or the opponent wins, we will see when whatever happens. Even saying and uttering those words makes us even worry even more because we don't know what lies ahead of us when and if a different party is to lead and take reign over South Africa. That makes us afraid!
Currently, we are battling with so many injustices by our government systems and officials, our people have been promised better and sustainable lives and great service delivery, and all this happens when our campaigning politicians are looking and begging for our votes using emotional manupilation, making our people entrust them with their lives enough to give them votes, in light of having a better life but at what cost?..... At the cost of continuing to live in poverty, to have no job and raise statistics on Unemployment, and at the cost of living in shacks, with no electricity and proper sanitation, and when all these are raised people are accused of having occupied land illegally. This is very much paining to see and to experience because this is not the South Africa that the late Tata Nelson Mandela was talking about in the archives of South African history. This is not the South Africa that was promised to people when they casted their votes for the first time in 1994. The democracy is only on paper. South Africans do not see the democracy, if the argument is that Democracy is there, then where is it?, in which part of the country can we go and find it?
NOW THE QUESTION THAT LIES HERE IS.... Who will you vote for in 2024?, I ask this question because I know that complaints upon complaints are heared on a daily basis, complaints on how poor the service delivery is, how unjust the system is and how South Africa belongs to the wealthy, patriarchal and heterosexual, and not to All Who Live In It, as the Constitution enshrines. Who will you be voting for?, are you willing to take a risk and give your vote to a party that has been promising its voters like the current ruling party has been, or rather you are no longer interested in the promises, but just want to live in your country in peace, the very same peace that you cannot predict will happen the way you want it. Even right now people are not at peace because of Loadshedding which continues to ruin the running of their lives, their appliances which they bought with their hard earned money, and food too that gets stored in refrigerators, ruining the running of businesses and educational centers. Is this the South Africa you want for you and your children?
My duty here is not to convince you to not vote, but rather to spark thought and paradigm shift unto your mind, so that you think long and hard about what the future might look like for you and your children in your beloved country.
Which makes me conclude and say,
SOUTH AFRICA DOES NOT BELONG TO ALL THOSE WHO LIVE IN IT, BUT RATHER BELONGS TO THOSE IN POWER, IN POWER TO MAKE CHANGE BUT INSTEAD OF MAKING CHANGE ARE CAUSING DAMAGE.
Mayibuye I-Africa!!!!!!!!!