Thembalethu Qolo, Nyanga
March 21 was Human Rights Day, marking the commemoration of what is known by others as the “Sharpeville massacre”.
As citizens of this country we heard many speeches and of course, with it being 48 days away from May 8 national and provincial election, the speeches were based on elections and more promises.
As the voters we need to be extra vigilant and listen with understanding that many will speak to evoke our emotions but never will they satisfy our needs. After all we have been here before, where we get promises but no service delivery. We must remember politicians and fake pastors are of the same “WhatsApp group” – they are actors. So we need developers, visionaries and selfless people.
The 2019 manifestos are still the same as of 2014; not much changes if there are any. Even those who can claim that their political parties are new, in 2014 they were part of other manifestos. So if you ask me I will tell you the truth – that almost all politicians are self-centred, manipulators, conniving and opportunistic individuals.
Our responsibility as voters is to check their intentions, not just the written objectives of parties they belong to. After all their parties can do little to discipline them, that we know.
I’m aware many will come out and defend and say we are voting national and not for people but political parties can never exist without the personal. So let’s not just look at the party policies but the personal to fulfil the policies.
If we face the real factor here it is that political parties have great policies but implementation is the key challenge. The personnel don’t have the willingness to fulfil the promises. It is the personnel that engage in fraud and corruption not the party.
So again I repeat, we have a duty to safeguard against the opportunism of personnel in parties. To say we’d rather not participate in elections will be a cost not on us only but on future generations to come. Let’s go out in numbers and cast our votes but only to a party that has the right policies and the right personnel.
