STUDIO83

Since 1994, things have gone from a better hope for South Africa to the doubts of whether or not we are moving in the right direction politically. I’m a young 27 year old male who is from the township [Alexandra] and I live in the northern suburbs now. I was going to vote in the coming local government election but i'm not so sure anymore — because there is no party out there that is worthy of my vote at this point. Lets get into it a bit ...

Congress Of The People: This party had our attention at the last election - they said that they were better than the ANC and the DA. For a minute there I was willing to go with Cope [besides the ugly name they chose for their party] - You know that phrase "rather the devil you know". After the election, it was like a circus, they started fighting amongst themselves - How will they run a country when they cant even run a party?

Democratic Alliance: I don't trust this party at all — there is something fishy about them that I cant put my finger on. Another thing that’s a major deal is because it's a white party, yes I'm bringing out the race issue. This country is made/based on race and we can't ignore it - if people didn’t want race to be an issue then we should've shared the wealth of this country equally from the get go. We are only about 17 years into the new South Africa and I think its just too early to vote for a white based party because I'm scared that if they get into power we might go back to something similar to apartheid - I know it's far fetched, but it's not impossible.

African National Congress: Our beloved ANC - as a black person it only makes sense that you vote for the ANC, well that’s based on the fact that they fought for the freedom that you have right now as a black person. That on it's own holds so much power amongst black people, it’s not even a joke [and I'm not even talking middle class here]. Now, this political party has so many problems that they are making other parties look good [eg DA] — corruption, service delivery, nepotism and other dodgy things that are influenced by abuse of power and money. Now, what I liked about the previous government is that even when they abused power and money, when it came to service delivery, they did a good job [well to a certain point though].

Conclusion: I don’t think I will vote this year for the local government, no party deserves my vote - there are too many wrong things going on out there [at the same time that’s a good enough reason to vote for someone better, no? - but who?]. I know that the ANC are abusing their power but what they are doing is nothing new [doesn’t make it right though] - the previous government abused funds and power as well. Actually, the ANC reminds me of what a friend said to me about convent schools:

"Never take your daughter to convent school, because when she leaves convent school and she gets freedom, she will go mad and sex crazy"

Voting for the DA is like accepting someone that molested you 17 years ago into your home and offering them tea after getting out of jail. It's a huge risk for you. Will they do it again? Have they repented? The real question is, are you going to take that chance to find out? Is it worth the risk?

Cope is like borrowing your drunken uncle a lot of money and expecting him to pay you back within 6 months - and when you borrowed him money you knew he had a drinking and gambling problem. When he is sober he sounds focussed but as soon as Friday hits, it’s all over again.

Now, the ANC is like a stepmother that treats you bad but does nice things for you now and again. They take you to school and listen to your problems at times - and sometimes, once in a while, they will fight for your views.

*Don't remember which site I got the image from but will search for the link