Real meaning of Low Voter turnout

The LGE2021 has seen the lowest voter turnout ever in the history of democratic South Africa. For those of us who love our country and who appreciate where we are, this is worrying and thus requires us to look at and analyse what is going on. It is our hope that we will not only leave it at that, but we will get to a point where such analyis is utilized going forward.

1. People are fed up with the ANC

One of the reasons that has led to such voter apathy is the fact that people are fed up with the ANC and its shenanigans. First and foremost, this shows that people love the ANC and rather than giving their vote to other parties, they'd rather abstain from voting. This they do as a form of protests. The electorate is frustrated with the ANC. The blatant corruption and disregard of people, the non-existent service delivery, the many cases of cronyism, nepotism and favoritism, the incompetence of ANC deployees, the infighting within the ANC, all these add to people losing hope and deciding to teach the ANC a lesson.

In essence, most voters who have stayed away from the polls are potential ANC voters, supporters or sympathizers and their vote carries a certain sentimental value to it. They vote the ANC based on their sentiments about what the ANC and other liberation parties did for us to be where we are. Nothing can convince them to betray the organisation because to them, it is the only organisation that is able to take the black populace forward. They base their vote on their experiences of apartheid, it's effects on their lives and livelihood, and they would rather keep their vote to themselves than have a party they deem as senseless and undeserving to get their vote. If you ask them their reasons for not voting, you'll hear them mention the ANC and how it continues to fail them, and when you enquire why they don't vote for another party, the answer is that there are no other worthy political parties.

2. There is no pro-Black, Credible, Alternative political party

This has been my contention for a very long time. We have too many black political parties, but we don't have a strong one that black South Africans can identify with. People see all these many black parties, especially those that are led by former ANC members as a splinter grouping that got disgruntled and left 4o form a Lite version of the ANC which will suit their desires and ambitions. This has been the case with EFF, UDM and COPE. These are parties that were hailed as the parties to take away the monopoly of the ANC and provide black people with an alternative, but all these parties failed to live up to expectation. The sole reason for this failure was that all of them forgot to detach themselves from the ANC, and as such focused all their energies on the ANC, the infighting and factions of the ANC, to the detriment of the parties that they formed. This then showed the electorate that these parties were nothing but another version of the ANC, and if given a chance, they wouldn't bring anything new or exciting. A lot of the existing parties, more so those led by former ANC leaders, seem to have adopted a lot of the policy positions of the ANC, hence they don't get as much recognition.

This is the sole reason people seem to have run to the new party by Herman Mashaba. To them, Mashaba is a breath of fresh air, because he isn't from the ANC, or rather didn't occupy a leadership position in the ANC if he ever was a member. Though his previous association with the DA could be detrimental to the growth of his party going forward, he is seen as someone who can tackle the issue of illegal immigrants that are found in all corners of this country. Unfortunately, this seems to be the sole selling point of his party, otherwise once the issue of illegal immigrants is sorted, his relevance and that of his party will be left hanging on the balance.

• What then needs to be done?

There's a need for the establishment of a pro-black, credible, alternative political party that will challenge the ANC. This party needs to start from scratch, defining itself with regards to its political outlook, whether it is a leftist, centrist or right-wing movement. Secondly, this party needs to adopt policies based on the sentiments of the people, but not only that, but also based on what future predictions are saying with regards to global politics and economic policies. The party doesn't need to make unrealistic promises but should educate people of what exactly is making our country regress economically. These include touching the uncomfortable topics of grants, free housing, free basic services like Healthcare and education, free roads infrastructure and so on. This party should indicate the actual costs of government providing these free services and how if these costs were cut, they could be channeled towards economic stimulation packages that will enable government to create a conducive environment for private companies to invest in South Africa. Further to this, the party needs to relook the government wage bill and government spending on perks for political office bearers leading government.

Another point would be to ensure that the party abolishes the Provincial system of Governance, leaving only national government and Municipalities, with the main aim of helping district municipalities evolve into metropolitan municipalities. Furthermore, we need a party that will push for primary safety (Policing), education and Healthcare to be transferred to municipalities. Not only with this cut the red tape, but it will also limit duplication of services, duplication of costs and much more, cut the red tape and bereaucracy that the current system of Governance has in place. Lastly, we need a party that will push for the change in our electoral system to ensure that the electorate doesn't vote for its representatives through a party political system only, but have a voice in the selection of candidates to represent them.

• Formation of a pro-black, credible, alternative political party

Also, we need to dissolve these smaller parties and have only one pro-black opposition party. Until such happens, we will remain a country that is full of uncertainty. If we had only two political parties, foreign investors would know that if Party X wins, this is what it means for the country, and if Party Y wins, this is what it means for the country. Right now, investors have to play a guessing game, gambling and speculating because they are not sure who might win between the ANC, DA, EFF and lately Action SA. These 4 parties are seen to be on cardinal ends of the political spectrum, and this creates uncertainty with investors. No investor wants to deal with such uncertainty.

• Renewal of the ANC

As for the ANC, it's time for it to introspect. There is a growing dissatisfaction towards the ANC by the electorate. The ANC needs to cleanse itself, discard the deadwood and remove the elderly politicians that are swelling it's ranks. There's absolutely no reason that the ANC continues to send those who are 60 and above to parliament. Even worse with 65 and above! These are pensioners who should be sitting at home, thus creating space for fresh, young ideas to take this country forward. The ANC also needs to decide if it wants to remain a liberation movement, basing most if not all of its decisions on history, or if it wants to be a modern political party that references history but makes decisions on policies and economic direction based on the now and the future. As it is, the ANC is getting fossilized whilst still breathing. These old people who were in the trenches, and those who led during apartheid and immediately after democracy was attained are still stuck in those periods, and will never carry the ANC forward.