‘WHO TO VOTE FOR’

The South African municipal election for the year 2011 has come again. All political parties are busy impressing people all over South Africa. Political parties are campaigning trying to convince people to follow and vote for their parties. The whole country is painted by posters of different political parties.

Only two weeks left for South African citizens to vote for their local municipalities, each South African political party is running up and down trying to get all the votes on the day of elections. What is shocking about these coming municipal elections is that there are only two parties who seem to be contesting for the votes. Democratic Alliance (DA) and African National Congress (ANC) are the most political parties that the media is busy talking about as if they are the only political parties that need the votes.

Political parties are promising people that they will meet their needs and they will deliver every service they need, but a lot of people are fed up with the propaganda of political parties. People are claiming that the government only consider them when they need votes. A lot of rural areas and informal settlements in South Africa are still struggling to get services, people are living their lives in shacks and they are still using bucket system because the government does not provide them with better sanitation and houses. The government does provide people with basic needs. People are forced to vote, but they have nothing to appreciate from the government because they do not see any difference from their previous votes.

Some people say they will no longer take part on South African elections. Others alleged that they will not vote on these upcoming elections because their votes do not make any difference in their lives. Others says they are really confused and they do not know who exactly they can vote for because they trusted the ruling party but it is not doing as it promised, it does not deliver, the only thing that is doing is to increase the inflation and it does not provide jobs.

Each political party is criticising another party and they accusing each other for using the state’s money for their own benefits. There is an ANC candidate that have two posters with two different surnames at KwaMhlanga in Mpumalanga and people know a totally different surname that does not even appear on those two posters, so people are willing to vote for this man but they need his explanation before they can vote for him, they say they cannot vote for someone that they do not know. People are confused, they are asking around whom to vote for and what differences will that person make in their lives.

On the other hand, students are protesting in their institutions, claiming for free education and other students do not even stay on campuses because of lack of residences.