21 Feb Exercising Democracy: Your Civic Responsibility to Vote in the Upcoming Elections
Image by: Cyrus Crossan
Once again, the national election season is upon us. Following the guidelines outlined in section 49(2) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, in conjunction with section 17 of the Election Act of 1998, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has designated Wednesday, May 29, 2024, as our national election date this year.
According to the Electoral Commission the voters roll after the first registration weekend held on 18 and 19 November 2023, contains 26.8 million voters with 568 374 of those registering for the first time.
That’s a huge number of young people with the potential to make a significant impact on our democracy, but there could be many more. Be sure you are counted!
In the coming weeks, our streets will be adorned with posters featuring catchy slogans and fresh-faced politicians, as well as some familiar figures gazing at you as you navigate the city.
With over 560 parties reportedly registered at the Independent Electoral Commission of SA (IEC), South Africans are not only spoiled for choice but also facing the prospect of a massive 2024 ballot paper. There will be a party for everyone, and in our multi-party democracy, every voter can rest assured that their vote matters.
“Talk is cheap; voting is free. Take it to the polls.”
It is the civic duty of every eligible citizen to cast their votes at the polls this year. In politics, everything comes full circle. What was once a party for the people has now become a party that the people need to be liberated from.
The 2024 elections are crucial, and we cannot afford to be tired or disgruntled. Voter apathy is not the antidote to discontentment with the current government. Your dissatisfaction should be the motivation you need to show up at the polls this year.
It’s easy to feel discouraged and forget the significance of your participation in elections, especially when it seems like everything around you doesn’t work in our young democracy.
For many people, especially traditional voters who have pledged their loyalty to the governing party, it can be intimidating to entertain the idea of voting for a new party. However, with brazen looting of public funds, a lack of accountability, unconscious bias, and overt prejudice towards those not politically connected, many everyday South Africans miss opportunities for free housing, funding to start their small businesses, and basic service delivery.
Just last year, the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) lost R50.5 million through brazen corruption, following the R540 million looted from SASSA in 2022.
We have a responsibility to the approximately 25% of South African households that rely solely on social grants for their livelihoods to show up at the polls and vote for a government invested in making South Africa work.
It is more essential now than ever to cast your vote. The reason why the importance of voting has been impressed upon you since the day you became eligible to participate in this beautiful democratic process is that your vote is crucial in pushing South Africa’s democracy to function in a free, fair, and equal way. As the singer-songwriter said:
“We all have to vote like our lives and the world depends on it because they do. The only way to be certain of the future is to make it ourselves.”
