So when I realised that for the first time since turning 18 I would be in another hemisphere on voting day, I contacted the IEC to find out how to use a special vote.“No,” I answered, “I will still be in South Africa.”“No,” I sighed, “by then I will be in the United Kingdom.”No,” they sighed sadly, “we don’t have confidence in that institution. The post office would be fine if we were voting now for 2024.
Knowing that there are still six-million unregistered young voters out there who will not benefit from the commitments on 8 May needs some very serious rethinking. Our youth all have access to cell phones, i-phones, smartphones or even your phone. They can order food, music, friendship, sex and opinions without having to queue.
We might have coalitions in Parliament this time round. The sulking ANC with a bloody nose could now go into that alliance with the smiling EFF. I won’t say I told you so, but ever since Julius was booted out of the ANCYL, I just knew that this was going to be the beginning of a new relationship. In the Western Cape, another alliance might push the DA, which once held the trust of the province in the palm of its hand, into the Dunce’s Corner. A revived local ANC-EFF alliance with a GOOD nudge from Auntie Pat might free South Africa of a white/beige/light-brown/fringed-with-black opposition.