Jul
28
Written by:
Dean Harrison
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
I understand the need to express oneself in an effort to better ones lot in life. And in most cases the workforce is often the last to benefit from national opportunities and more often the first to feel inflation. But I have to ask where were COSATU all the various unions before the election? They didn’t seem to be flexing their political muscle quite to the levels they are now. In fact if I remember correctly they put their considerable weight behind the ANC. But literally within months of the ANC victory we find ourselves firmly in the grips of national strike season, not to mention the protest due to non-delivery. My conspiracy theory meter is in overdrive, wondering what agreements were in place to ensure the Zuma victory, especially between COSATU and the ANC? Voting for a political party that has failed to deliver in the past, and that has a history of corruption and greed makes very little sense to me. I can only assume that the union bosses were financially lubricated to ensure the ANC victory, and now with the election out of the way, perhaps some of the real agendas are coming to the surface. So while the new cabinet procure fancy high-end cars with nonsensical features and fancy paint to the tune of R2.3 million, their constituents are struggling to feed their families. While ministers of safety and security feel unsafe in their homes, and thus move into state rented mansions, their are those amongst us who live on the banks of sewer infested rivers in little more than scraps of cardboard and corrugated metal. My suggestion for future reference is to change your voting strategy to put pressure on the fat cats, and/or kick them out onto their fat, lazy backsides. Put a government into place that actually understand what needs to be done, and are more interested in the original vision of Mandela and co, than in enriching themselves at the expense of others. To me that seems to be a more democratic and constructive way to voice yourself, than, say, burning down the train you need to get to work, or pouring tons of litter out all over your own neighbourhood, but that’s just me, I’m funny that way.
1 comment(s) so far...
The last election takes me back to the mid-90's when I was a teacher at Germiston High School. For one year the staff and governing body decided to play with the idea of "letting the pupils vote for the head and deputy head girl and boy of the school". The group of prefects had been chosen, but those who wanted to stand for "the top of the school tree" had to make a speech stating their values and principles. There was a dude (name obviously escapes me now) who stood up, and started playing with the pupils saying things like, I'll let you guys have longer breaks, shorter Fridays and more understanding for those pupils who erally need to take a smoke at school.
Guess what ... he was selected.
Then 6 months later, guess what ... his prefectship was taken away due to a couple of serious misdemeanours, such as passing on favours for those in his crowd.
Moral of the story according to Andrew Rose?
There'll always be somebody (and his cronies) in the wings who is able to spot the gap and manipulate the situation to improve his standing in his own community (in this case the smoker rebels who liked to party).
There'll always be those waiting in the crowd who really think they're "hero / icon" will improve their lives by "making their dreams come true".
Democracy is a fairy tale. It gives the masses a false belief that they have a say in where the juggernaut is going.
African democracy is a different ideology to what us "whiteys" can analyse. Those of us with entrenched Euro-centric concepts of fairness, accountability and majority opinion will probably never be able to understand, comprehend and accept the grassroots that is actually only a few minutes away from our cosy little doors and american TV reality.
By Andrew on
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
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