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By Carina Koen

Journalist


Don’t complain if you do not vote

A number of challenges await the country, and one way to make a difference is to cast your vote at the polls later this year.


2019 is a massive year for South Africa as the country goes to the polls. And President Cyril Ramaphosa didn’t waste any time in highlighting its importance.

In his official new year message to the nation, Ramaphosa stressed the need to register to vote in an election year.

“We urge all our people, particularly the youth, to register to vote and to exercise their responsibility as patriotic citizens of our great nation,” Ramaphosa said on Monday.

“We must actively participate in the transformation of our country. Each one of us has the ability to make a meaningful difference. Having welcomed a new dawn at the beginning of this year, we can be certain that the sun is indeed rising higher in the SA sky,” he added.

“In 2019, we must raise our hands, each one of us, in the spirit of Thuma Mina. We’ll need a huge national effort to build on the progress made in 2018 in restoring our country to a path of growth and progress.

“We’ll need to take extraordinary measures and work together to take some difficult decisions given the challenges that lie ahead,” Ramaphosa said.

The year 2018 was a tough one for South Africans. A slew of new, shocking state capture claims came to the surface after the formation of the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, under Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, we slipped into a technical recession and racial tension continues to divide the nation.

A number of challenges await the country, and one way to make a difference is to cast your vote at the polls later this year.

You can’t complain about the problems facing the country if you don’t vote for a better future, and hold politicians accountable for their actions.

We wish all our readers a happy new year and dream of a peaceful future.

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