Electoral fear and loathing in Mzanzi

Woe are us for we are undone. Well, not yet, but we will be according to our political overlords.

It’s frustratingly telling that the electioneering happening for next year is hardly positive. John Steenhuisen is doomsaying something about an ANC-EFF coalition and more recently Fikile Mbalula is trying to scare his base with expectations of 30%. I don’t know why he’s crying. It was his government that made 30% a matric subject pass mark (with Angie Motshekga’s qualifications, of course).

It’s just so disappointing that those leading our major two options are trying to convince us to vote for them with fear. It makes me less excited about the next election. Moreover, it makes it feel like it’s a heavy responsibility.

Now I’m also scared that the 18-24 demographic will be all Gen-Z about it and claim it’s giving them too much anxiety and not vote at all.

Cool, Cape Town is going solar and President Cyril Ramaphosa is similarly innovating gymnastic justifications for the cholera in the water but is that enough to give us hope in the country? I get it that it must suck when the people you don’t like are coming into power or when the people you do like get less power, but should that be your campaign? Should it even be a significant part of your campaign? I don’t want to be scared about the potential future.

I want to feel positive, excited and enthralled to be here. I want to be taken seriously as a voter and not just as a potential brake pedal to doom.

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Little known fact for the benefit of political organisations; we’re not here for you. Quite the opposite. So as much as you care about how bad it would be not to be in power for you, I care more about what seeing you in power will do for me. I know you’re tempted to say it’s much of a muchness and perhaps it is. Perhaps I am splitting hairs but goodness gracious can you please be less pessimistic about it?

Do I really think that an ANC-EFF coalition can do more damage than the ANC on its own? Probably not. Is the ANC dropping to 30% such a bad thing? Probably not. For normal South Africans, we can make do with both of these scenarios. We’ve made do with worse. I may even go as far as saying that either of them is better than what we have now.

I find it incredible to bare witness to the self-importance that political organisations place on themselves as the bringers of goodness when their bringing of goodness is subject to the shadow of bringing themselves.

Our democracy isn’t that young anymore and we need to stop pretending like it is. We need to demand more as the electorate – we want more than a battle of political personalities. Take us seriously and put ideas on the table and show us how you hold yourself and your party to account on those ideas.

How is it that the last presidential debate in this country was one that featured Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk? Perhaps we don’t do presidential debates because we don’t vote directly for a president but it’s not like we’ve seen any other kind of valuable political debate in recent years. When we try, the debate becomes more about who can offer more points of order.

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Sometimes negative campaigning is important and gives us contrast and context between parties. It’s not like it doesn’t have its place. It’s just that its place should not be on the foreground of our democracy.

You’re doing nobody any favours by getting elected because of fear. Perhaps it will just favour your organisation. It certainly doesn’t favour us to be scared into voting one way or another.

Everybody with a double digit IQ can understand why you think its bad that the other guys come to power. I promise you, we get it. What we need you to get is that even if you do benefit from our fear and your power, there’s a lot more to be done in the next five years and it would be most kind if you could tell us a little more about that, pretty please and thank you.

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