Avatar photo

By Isaac Mashaba

Political analyst


Use your vote or we are doomed

Failing to vote is an acceptance of an incompetent and corrupt government system that aims to govern and enrich only itself.


As President Cyril Ramaphosa and his government lead us ever deeper into anarchy, chaos, division, and destruction, the current voter apathy in the country is disturbing.

Citizens are ‘punch-drunk’

The citizens have become punch-drunk from the government’s dysfunctional and disconnected policies aimed at taking total control over everything where money can be made.

Whereas the government believes that all taxpayers and voters are stupid, the converse is true. Those who can withhold taxes do so, and those that can and will vote are watching with concern at the destructive road the government is leading us on.

While claiming to act in the interests of voters, it is doing exactly the opposite. The government has turned our democracy into a “demockery” overseen by arrogance and incompetence.

If they had a sense of shame, they would fall on their swords forthwith. People who don’t vote, but are entitled to do so, should, therefore not complain at what is unfolding as a no-vote is essentially a “yesvote” for that intent on destroying the country and its potential while stealing as much as they can.

ALSO READ: Concerns mount over political killings ahead of 2024 elections

Accepting incompetence

Failing to vote is an acceptance of an incompetent and corrupt government system that aims to govern and enrich only itself.

The lack of voter enthusiasm demonstrates a placid acceptance of a system aimed at impoverishment and unemployment.

By not voting, these current govern-bycrime structures we have will merely continue and increase, and more criminals will be welcomed into the fold of corruption and destruction. Voter apathy has become the driver for our doom.

There are many reasons for voter apathy, not least being the lies and misdirection continually practised by the government.

ALSO READ: GOOD cries foul as DA and PA snatch its seats in George by-elections

Unstoppable efforts to erase our country’s history

Added to this great deception is the unstoppable efforts to erase our country’s history while trying to imply the country was discovered by themselves and that everything was built by them.

Our history, both good and bad, colonial and anti-colonial, contains many positives and negatives. That is what forged us as a nation.

We ought to be proud of the positives in our history and build on them, while rejecting the negatives and never repeat them again.

It is ironic, as well as a great tragedy, that both Germany and Japan were virtually destroyed during World War II, and yet, 30 years later, were able to boast modern infrastructure and a rising standard of living.

Our government inherited a modern infrastructure and a rising standard of living in 1994 and barely 30 years later have destroyed it. This is not the result of “competence” or “good governance”.

Yet, the government views its destruction of the country as “progress”. It embodies the saying that those who neglect the faults of history are bound to repeat them again.

ALSO READ: High-stakes by-elections for DA, ANC in George and Mangaung

BRICS

By trying to create the perception that South African government – or rather President Cyril Ramaphosa – is a major player in Brics, we are simply fooling ourselves as we are at best a letter in the Brics acronym and nothing more.

Our Brics colleagues have lost faith in our government’s membership of the organisation. They simply find us without credibility and close to bankrupt.

Those who dare speak out against the abuses, corruption and excesses of the government find themselves in deep waters.

As whistle-blowers, they face a short life, and those who want to live after making public what’s happening behind the scenes must go into hiding.

As the worlds drifts further and further apart, our government wants to stand with a foot on both sides. It does not consider that as the sides drift further and further apart, a point will be reached where we will no longer be able to do so and will be torn apart.

Voters, especially the youth, must be encouraged to make an effort to vote. If not, they will be contributors and not victims of the corrupt and dysfunctional system we are currently experiencing. Voter apathy will allow us, like lemmings, to happily walk to our doom.

NOW READ: Smaller parties ‘starting to play a bigger role’ in SA ahead of 2024 elections

Read more on these topics

vote voters

For more news your way

Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.