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Politically motivated murder and mayhem have marked the run-up to elections, but will the outcome be any better, asks Rapule Tabane
If you haven’t noticed the tension simmering as part of the build-up to the upcoming local government elections, you probably need to pay more attention.
It is tough out there for anyone taking these polls seriously.
The SABC exemplifies this undercurrent. The public broadcaster is always contested terrain, which is why none of its chief executives remains at the helm for long.
The political pressures and agendas are simply unbearable at any given time since television is regarded by some as the most influential media platform.
But in an election year, these agendas get out of hand. It explains why the state broadcaster’s eccentric chief operating officer, Hlaudi Motsoeneng, came up with the ridiculous policy of not showing visuals of violent protests, among other dubious decisions.
In this matter of the banning of visuals, he was justifying his deployment to his political masters in the governing party. Granted, it may not be everyone in the ANC encouraging his contentious actions, but clearly it is those who are pulling the strings. Where else would he get the idea that he could give the rest of us the middle finger?
The journalists who were sacked were reacting bravely to the restrictions exerted over them as a result of political pressures brought on by approaching elections.
Yes, it is tough out there.
The killing of 12 ANC members – including councillors and would-be councillors – in political violence in KwaZulu-Natal indicates how fiercely contested these elections are. Worrying signs appeared immediately after the ANC concluded its councillor selection processes in May. The unprecedented levels of violence and protests over these lists have been conducted with an intensity never seen before.
Then City Press discovered from the highest echelons of government that the security cluster itself was concerned about the polls.
An intelligence report indicated that free and fair elections were at risk, and that the outcomes might be met with violence.
The report went on to state that violence could persist before and after the elections, and could be used to challenge the legitimacy of the election outcome.
Given that every election, typically, is hotly contested, why are the risks of violence and intolerance associated more with the 2016 municipal polls?
Could it be because the cake is getting smaller for the current beneficiaries?
As democracy matures and people feel empowered to use their vote more liberally, the status quo is threatened.
The previous election, in 2014, showed the governing party ceding more ground to opposition parties and losing its ability to dispense patronage to members.
It has been shown that those within the system are unwilling to make way for others.
But those on the outside – who see councillors making pots of money and accumulating material possessions – are prepared to fight tooth and nail to secure a spot on the inside.
The opposition parties face growing member numbers. And they also want to access resources. They have no desire to sit on the opposition benches forever.
While many are motivated by democratic and ethical values, many others are driven to dislodge those in power so they can control resources.
With a shrinking economy and jobs being shed in the private sector at an alarming rate, government posts and public office are all that is left for many people.
Some pundits have said the elections are a referendum for President Jacob Zuma – meaning that, should the ANC perform poorly, Zuma should carry the can because of his many blunders.
Similarly, I would suggest that the elections serve as a referendum for DA leader Mmusi Maimane, who is leading the party to the polls for the first time.
He has been criticised as weak, lacking the gravitas of his DA predecessors.
An unconvincing performance by the opposition would confirm some people’s worst fears: that the young man from Dobsonville, Soweto, is not ready for the big time.
As for Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema, he has never spent so much time campaigning. He has been to every province, sometimes holding 10 meetings a day in different towns as part of his canvassing efforts.
With the possibility hanging over the EFF that it may not win a municipality on its own, Malema and company have had to work hard at wooing voters.
A proud man, Malema wants to confound the sceptics and opinion polls, which wrongly cast him as a marginal player in these elections.
Much is at stake for parties and us citizens. Let us hope peace prevails come August 3 – and beyond.
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