The Selfish Elections 2014

This blog was first published on Off side or On Target on May 6th, 2014.

 

On April 30^th, 2014, I went to the South African Consulate in Hong Kong and exercised my special vote in the 2014 Elections. It was and will remain one of the most important days of my life. It was and is important because it is the first democratic election in which South Africans living abroad were able to cast their vote. It was and is important because there are many expats who fully intend on returning home to South Africa and bringing their experience and talent with them.

This is also the first election in which the “born-frees” will vote. It has been twenty years since our first democratic election when the ANC came into power. There is endless rhetoric to be read about how the ruling party has failed us and how there is no good alternative opposition party. Maybe they have and maybe there isn’t. That’s for you to decide.

There is, undeniably, much to be frustrated with. However, in between all the negative politicking, the corruption and the disappointing unemployment rate, there has been much progress and growth in South Africa. Take that from someone who has been away for many years. I notice improvement every time I return home for a visit and it makes me so proud.   

As I stood in the queue in Hong Kong listening to the range of South African accents, I was overcome by a great feeling of excitement. Once I had cast my vote, that excitement turned to emotion. I had to take my tissues out. High fives, smiles and congratulations ensued whilst walking past my fellow countrymen in the queue.  

 

The 2014 Elections: the first time South African expats are permitted to vote abroad.
Picture courtesy of Sasha Andrews.

 

Sadly, my elation was short-lived when I found out how few South African expats had, in fact, filled out the VEC10 form allowing them to vote in Hong Kong. Make no mistake, I am fully aware that voting is not a duty. But it is a democratic right. And I feel it is more important today than ever to exercise that right. After all, voting is selfish. As Pieter-Dirk Uys wrote for Daily Maverick earlier in the week:

No one is honest enough to point out that voting is the most selfish act we are allowed in a democracy: to vote for ourselves. Say to the born-frees that it’s not about the rot at the top, or the pointlessness of involvement with a corrupt political game. You are voting for your future, your life, your dream. Take that vote as the key to your door to the rest of your life.  If you don’t bother to open it, you will be left behind.

So, all you registered voters in South Africa, go out tomorrow and vote. I wouldn’t dare say for who. Vote for the ANC or the DA, Malema’s EFF, the Keep It Straight and Simple Party (KISS) or whichever political party you believe will make a difference in parliament. But whatever you do, vote for what you want and hope South Africa to be. Be selfish. Vote for you.