Had I been five years older (and able to vote in the 2004 election) I'd have a much easier time deciding where my first scratched x would land: ANC, next to Thabo's smiling, souless face.
Today, of course, the ANC looks much different. Gone is the intelligensia of the exiled elite, the out of touch, ivory towered, Ph.D-waving leaders. Now we have the men and marginalised women of "the people". The same "people" who expect social grants to be extended, and houses to be built and service delivery to be bettered. I am not one of those people. I don't really care about grants or house, and as long as the basics (electricity, water, ADSL) are delievered to the northern suburbs, I'm happy. I miss the intelligensia. They were pretty hopeless, yes, but they also inspired some tiny sense of confidence. Now, instead, we have a man who's idea of a public address includes the call for a weapon and much gyrating. Yes, the song was an anti-apartheid rallying cry, but, I don't care. What I care about is the efficient judiciary of our state, the competence of our leadership, the fact that techinicalities are the only reason Zuma is walking free.
This confidence I have lost, and for a fleeting moment I thought COPE might provide it. Here was a party born after the end of apartheid - perfect! - I don't have affiliations to any anti-apartheid party because I wasn't alive. History means little to me, and thus a party born in the deracialised milieu I find myself in would be best placed to serve my interests, right? Well, almost. The trouble began with the leadership - former ANC "stalwarts" (why is this term used so often?) who defected after Mbeki's capitulation decided to defect and set up the Congress of the People. The obvious issue here was that they too (you, Terror) were tainted in whatever the ANC was implicated in. The tar brush forgets no one. After name calling and bared teeth, the virtually unknown (to me, at least) Rev. Dandala was selected as leader. Two issues here:
One: Who is this guy? Isn't this a Shikota deal? Why is Lekota's face also on the posters? What's going on?
Two: I'm uncomfortable having a man of god be my president. I know, I know, they stopped touching children and telling everyone who didn't believe that they'd go to hell - but still. When politics and religion mix, I feel as if I've just had a milkshake topped with a layer of biltong.
So COPE have come out, gun ablaze in confusion, poor organisation and a leader I know nothing about but don't feel comfortable voting for. And some policy somewhere.
The underlying issue here,of course, is that our elections are about the party, not the policy. Sure, websites promise to "pull our people out of abject poverty". Of course nowhere is it asked "how?". Is the electorate so gullible as to believe any promise made without substantiation? After having seen ANC posters in Hebrew and Greek, it strikes me as strange to note that the ANC have courted these tiny demographics and ignored the (presumably) larger one: people who care about the actual issues at hand.
I'm at a stage where, should the ANC propose a massive, well-thought out restructuring of our economy and the issues of poverty and crime, I would vote for them. This despite the idiocy of men like Jacob Zuma and Julias Malema.
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