I WOULD LIKE TO START BY FIRST STATING THAT THE OPINIONS SHARED ON THIS NOTE ARE NOT ONES I NECESSARILY AGREE/DISAGREE WITH.. IT IS JUST SOMETHING THAT WAS SENT TO ME, AND I THOUGHT I SHOULD BE SHARE T WITH ....
Hello fellow citizens
If like me, you don't have a pa**port from another country and you quite like living in South Africa, now is quite an important time for you.
Instead of using clichés like "the future is in your hands.." or "make your mark, let your voice be heard!" and other ineffective drivel, I am going to just draw your attention to the following:
Bob Mugabe had to amend the constitution of Zimbabwe to allow him to remain in power as president, long after he had reached his intellectual sell-by-date. (Before this, as in all "democracies", there was a limit to the number of terms which a president could serve). Having changed it once, he did it again. Then he was on a roll. The rest of the story we all know very well. With hindsight, we can see that had he been prevented from taking the first step, the whole sub-Saharan part of Africa would have been spared quite a lot of bother.
When Hitler took over Germany he systematically turned it into a fascist police-state, where no-one (no, not even German citizens) had any freedom. He did this by pa**ing one piece of legislature after another. Slowly he started to ban things (like women shaving their legs and underarms). Next he formed a special police force which was under his personal control (the infamous Gestapo) to enforce these new laws. Then he banned some more things, like jokes, clever books and talking about him behind his back. By the time he had mobilised his army, and banned being Jewish or trying to stop him from invading your country it was TOO LATE! He had gained too much momentum.
"How did he and Bob manage this?" you may ask.
I'll tell you how: Baby steps.
Each time they changed something, they convinced all the stupid people that it was for the greater good. Clever people, who could tell that it wasn't, thought to themselves "Surely they won't get away with this" over tea and rusks, but didnothing. By the time someone decided to stand up and make a scene, his house had been burned down and his head was firmly wedged between an S.S. boot and the pavement outside.
Now, I'm sure we all agree that one "Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma" possesses neither the intellect, balls or charisma to start a world war. However, he has somehow managed to wangle his way into a position where he can very well take the first baby step towards making a complete pig's ear of our country. Old-school racist whites are always on about our country going to the dogs and ending up like Zim. Of course they did this because they were narrow-minded and ignorant, not because they were keeping a keen eye on actual political developments. Our downfall will not be racism as everyone predicted in 1994, it will be corrupt politicians driven by greed and a hunger for power. And people drinking tea saying "surely they won't get away with that?".
Now,
JZ's trial has been scheduled for August (which is AFTER the election). After winning the election, the ANC plans on amending the constitution to prohibit the acting president from being prosecuted in a court of law. Just like with Bob Mugabe, the most fundamental law of the country will now be changed to suit the whims of a criminal with no brain. (Never mind the fact that this would actually mean that he could literally commit murder and get away with it until he steps down as president). Our constitution is literally the anchor which stops our country from drifting down river and over the edge of a waterfall. It leaves ultimate power in the hands of the courts and judges and prevents government from raising itself above the law. To allow anyone to mess with it is equivalent to committing a slow national suicide.
The ANC no doubt thinks they will again get the two thirds majority they need to tinker with the constitution in the April election.
I beg to differ.
I hope and believe that, unlike the sheep of the past in Germany and Zimbabwe, the average person who receives this mail has actually had enough of all these shenanigans and would like to see the appearance of justice, logic and efficiency in government.
Unfortunately, we are in the minority. However, to prevent things from getting worse really fast, all we have to do (for now) is:
VOTE !!!!!!!!
And then, when the election comes, vote for anyone except the ANC. You can vote for Vernon Koekemoer or Skippy Peanut Butter for all I care, just as long as no one gets a two-thirds majority!
I swear on my grandma's grave... if I hear someone (who didn't vote or couldn't vote because they were too lazy or hungover to register) complaining at a braai about the government I will come in from the side with a flying head-butt which will leave you so brain-damaged you'll join the ANC youth league and vote for Julius Malema in 2013.
This country is genuinely amazing, lets not let a small handful of people use it as their personal monopoly set and turn it into another post-Collonial African 3rd World sad story.
Vote, dammit! People are willing to die fighting for the right to vote. If you don't, and you end up watching as the country slowly slides into an abyss it will be "on you".
Ok, enough.
PS - If they give you a pen and print faces on the ballots, how can you NOT draw horns on some of the candidates?
