FREE T-shirts and Zinger Wings from KFC are surely far more effective to attract votes than sticking up posters on virtually every lamppost on our main roads. Why waste oodles of boodle on merely keeping printers, Mondi or Sappi happy? OK, so some of the posters might satisfy the egos of the politicians who appear on them, but it’s doubtful any voter will head into the poll booth later in the year thinking: “Ooo… he/she is cute!” Tick! And why now, months before we even have to do it? One can understand the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) advertising for people to register to vote this weekend, but it’s way too early for politicians to be hogging the poles and polls. All they are achieving right now is to clutter up the place. Currently, photographs of the party big guns are on the posters and local candidates (whoever they may be) will probably be going on diet to get rid of their double chins before their party’s chosen photographer does the rounds. Not that personalities matter these days. It’s all about party politics now. Gone are the days when an individual could make a difference. Ask Umtentweni’s Alex Skene. He’s a well known figure in his ward and really does a lot for it through the Tweni Conservancy and other things. Yet he couldn’t beat the relatively unknown DA candidate, Suret Opperman, in the last by-election. OK, so looks might have played a part in this case (sorry Alex). The point is that politicians today hunt in packs, which makes it oh so boring (and ‘ineffectual’, some would say). Even in parliament, one or two party blabbermouths wax lyrical while the rest merely vote as they are told. Yonks ago, I happened to run as an ‘independent’ in a by-election in Ladysmith and surprisingly scraped in, thanks to a split vote between the National and Conservative Party candidates. My only liberal ally was another ‘independent’, Ray Heron. We were hopelessly outnumbered, but we still actually achieved something. After much beer had flowed down the Klip River and after many public spats, we finally managed to convince our right wing colleagues to open up the public libraries and swimming pool to all races. That might not seem like much now, but at a time when verkrampte butts were firmly glued to the seats of the high-back chairs in chamber, we were quite chuffed with ourselves. However, today, posters would be more effective if they were generic and explained exactly why we should vote for that party and not the candidate. A free red beret wouldn’t go amiss either.
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