Our beleaguered and fractured nation faces a general election in 2024. This will be the most crucial and pivotal event since the advent of democracy 27 years ago.
The right to vote is a symbol of our equality and the true source of our liberty. We should never forget what it took to get the right to vote and how important it is to the workings of a free and democratic society.
We the people have a sacred obligation to safeguard for ourselves and our posterity the blessings of liberty our Struggle heroes fought so hard to achieve. And the most fundamental obligation is the responsibility of every eligible citizen to vote. We have witnessed first-hand how our fragile democracy has come under assault from all factions and how much vigilance and effort is required to safeguard it.
Exercising our right to vote is our sacred duty. No matter what you believe or whom you support, it is your right to exercise your vote.
Registering to vote is a legal obligation, exercising your moral obligation to vote is your choice. Our beloved nation is in a mortal crisis as political hyenas have devoured the nation’s precious resources in a scorched earth rampage, turning the landscape into a barren desert.
As a voter, ask your conscience whether a government that believes in God or goodness, or orthodox or otherwise, would have allowed all this to happen. This is avarice and evil. It is wilful. Negligence is an understatement.
Our current leadership has caused such immense despair across this land, intent instead on engaging in deception, erasing history and distorting if not destroying the possibility of joy, peace and prosperity for everyone who lives (or lived) here.
This is the naked face of all who support this visionless leadership. There is no temple that can be raised that will be enough to cleanse their souls of sin. Their gallery of shame welcomes new disciples in an order of ordainment that makes a mockery of constitutional government and the rule of law.
The evil that has consumed our poverty-stricken land must be replaced by leadership that is equal, just, rational, honest and can begin to repair the monumental desecration caused by the current leadership and its cheerleaders.
Over the past 25 years our nation was blind-sided by slick political gimmickry – fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. The silent majority has awoken from its slumber. A seismic political change awaits the nation when voting day arrives.
Vote earnestly in support of our South African democracy for which our Struggle heroes paid such a huge price and gave us this freedom in the first place. Vote for a better tomorrow. Let us reclaim the heritage and legacy of our beloved Nelson Mandela.
Our hard-worn democracy is in shambles. Our once mighty economy is a pale shadow of what it once was. Our healthcare system is actually a crime against humanity, a classical example is the Esidimeni tragedy where 143 innocent souls lost their lives. There is no light at the end of this tunnel, because Eskom has lost the will to generate power.
Let us not forget that “we the people” are our government; we are the ultimate keepers of our government in South Africa’s democracy. Cast your vote wisely in 2024. The future of your children and the next generation hinges on whom we elect to govern us over the next five years. Our choice is simple, do we vote for a genuine democracy, or will we entrench tyranny. The choice is ours, we will get the government that we deserve.
* Farouk Araie, Gauteng.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.
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