One of the most frustrating rituals in my morning routine is when a taxi will unexpectedly stop in front of me, leaving me either stomping the brakes like a bug or swerving more than a minister trying to be held to account.
And yet, the stop, as inconvenient as it is to me, has a purpose. It is to provide someone with transport.
What is more confounding is the sudden stops by political parties in the name of protest.
The City of Johannesburg government met recently to reappoint Floyd Brink as City Manager. While there was a fair amount of horse trading in the background, it ultimately saw the DA once again abstain from voting.
They are not the only party to abstain when things are not going their way, but they are the latest to use the annoying tactic. The decision was a headscratcher, with insiders even saying that the party’s mayoral candidate Helen Zille was confused by the decision.
The party saw it was losing the game and, instead of seeing it out gracefully, just walked away from the board. They claimed it was “based on principle” and to maintain the moral high ground, but to the rest of us, it just looked unimaginative and spoilt.
The tired political tool, to minimise harm to coalition partners while still showing defiance on the matter, has been used dozens of times by the top four major political parties (ANC, DA, MK Party, and EFF) across government structures since the 2021 Local Government Elections. With local councils and the NCOP, by virtue of its voting procedures, being the biggest offenders.
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What about voters?
But such protests, it seems, are only reserved for those sitting in councils and Parliament.
With elections a year away, political parties will soon be begging —and then demanding —your votes. You will see a flurry of information about low voter turnout and hear at the braai how “if you don’t vote, you don’t get to complain”.
Voter turnout has declined every election since 2009. More than 40% of eligible voters did not vote in last year’s election, with fewer than half of those aged 18 to 39 casting a ballot. In a by-election late last year, more than 80% of registered voters in Ward 11 of Thabazimbi, Limpopo, didn’t even show up.
The low voter turnout figures are rightly concerning and point to a population that is apathetic and has given up on the hope that politicians can change their circumstances.
But political parties, who do the same every time they abstain in council, are not the moral compass to lecture voters on this failure.
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