It’s 25 years since I first voted, and I have voted in each election since. I have missed only one local government election because I was travelling on business and there was no possibility of a special vote.
Yesterday, I ventured to the polling station mid-morning, and earlier in the day than I had planned as my schedule had gone somewhat awry. I drove on because there was a queue out the door, I had things to do, figuring that as they would only shut up shop at 9pm, I had plenty of time.
So, late afternoon, having done what I needed to do, I headed out into the setting sun, under a gloomy sky. Not only was the polling station virtually empty, but there were happy party supporters - some from different parties - partying together. That would not have happened 25 years ago. Nor would the cheerful greeting of the mandatory police members at the gates.
Yes, there seem to have been some glitches, like the disappearing indelible ink that reappears and the inevitability of folk bucking the system, but by and large, the election seems to have gone well. We will still have the same ruling party, but it will not have a two thirds majority, and with 40+ other parties on the ballot, the final outcome will be interesting.
While I am concerned about the rise of the lunatic left and the reactionary right - not specific to South Africa - it makes my heart sing that South Africa’s democracy seems to be maturing.
#ulog #powerhousecreatives #teamsouthafrica #life #share2steem #democracy #vote #xse #ink #mcgregorvillage #magicmcgregor #countryliving
Until next time
Fiona
The Sandbag House
McGregor, South Africa
Photo: Selma
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Seems it is a election season all around. Few days ago we too had general election....and for Indians it was kind of national festival.
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I think those party agents were having a bit of a festival!
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Good luck with your election. I am glad to hear you have positive feelings from a maturing democracy when all I seem to read about is people complaining, especially if their party or politician loses.
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Ha! Perhaps I spoke too soon. There has been an awful lot of bickering among the smaller parties who feel aggrieved by a couple of glitches. If they have their way, which I trust the courts won't allow, they could scupper the entire election. Sigh...
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I read about this and it is a real shame.
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I have to believe it will be resolved
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With 48 parties available, apathy toward voting saddens one, no matter the party big or small with new voices, ideas they are all good to have.
Tomorrow will tell if the right decision makers have been voted in....
It seems to have gone as expected. Except for the FF+. And as for the other stuff:a time wasting storm in a teacup
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Let us hope promises are kept, previous offenders to country are jailed for theft. People start working together, get over race, colour, class distinction, afraid it is too big an order to fullfil.....
You can find the community announcement on Discord :) and it has also been shared on our FB Page and Twitter feed.
Mwah! Thank you
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We just had our local elections for Mayor of San Antonio Texas 🇨🇱. Of 900,000 registered voters only 11% voted. It's so pathetic that people don't vote in local elections, then bitch for two years that our taxes are too high. I'm really fed up with this City @fionasfavourites.
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Yes when folk don't vote and then complain.... You know the saying you get the government you deserve? That said, those that moan will always find something to gripe about.
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It's fantastic to read this. We have European parliament elections coming up (which I can vote in, unless Brexit rips my European citizenship from me before then). Unfortunately it is often used as a protest vote against the ruling party in each nation state, so we often end up with lazy incompetents. Fingers crossed for democracy and common sense
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Oh, I so get you. Brexit - what a disaster.
A contradiction in terms, I fear...
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Yes, I have a feeling things will get much worse in the not too distant future!
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Going to vote is an honor ans a right great to see you never missed one electronisch hopes it turnsters out the way you want.
Well, the results are as expected. Now we see how things unfold in the next while. As for not missing: I first voted when I was 31 and in South Africa's first democratic election. Prior to that black folk did not have the vote. Now everybody can exercise that right. I do....
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We need an election here in the UK desperately
Oh, don't you just. Brexit: what a nightmare
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Ahaaaaa we have elections too this sunday. Hope you enjoyed giving your precious vote. :)
And you, tomorrow @vibesforlife
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Maturing democracies are the best. That's when they hit their stride. The ones you have to watch out for are the old fogies. :-)
Well, we have just had 9 wasted years. I have to hope, no believe that then current and president-elect I hope will continue rooting out the rot and hold those responsible for looting state coffers to account
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Rings true
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Ah, yes. Corruption. It has a way of ruining great things.
All the best with the elections :)
.... or perhaps the results are out by now ....
Hope your party wins/won ;)
Thank you. My vote was strategic and not based on a party I support(ed). Our electoral system is such that you don't vote for a person so my vote was based on track record in our province and what could potentially happen nationally.
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Aaaah ok
All the best still :)
🤗
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South Africa is in my thoughts and prayers.
Thank you!
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via GIPHY
Oh I love that @traciyork. Thank you 🤗
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Great news that your democratic system seems to be getting better while places like USA seem to be moving towards extremes!
Well, that move to extremes seems to be an international trend and is reflected in the results. Not, in sufficient numbers to affect the outcome. Although they make a huge fuss which makes people (including them) think they have more power than they really do. Sigh...
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They definitely do make a big fuss!
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I LOVE the first picture you've got here. It's so moody and bright all at once. It makes me want to visit there.
Ok, now I'll go back and read the post.
40 parties on the ballot?!?! That sounds like an incredible feat. We have several, but there are only 2 on the presidential ballot with any real chance of winning the election. Hopefully someday that will change and we will vote for people based on their policies and abilities rather than party affiliation.
Thanks @mattifer. I love it when that happens and I can't resist a photo. I thought it significant on Wednesday.
I do hope that the electoral system will be changed in the next five years. Proportional representation made sense 25 years ago, but the electorate now wants real, personal accountability. It's time.
And that would/should open the door for independent candidates which should deal with the myriad small parties. I live in hope.
That is a lot of people on the ballot.
Love that 1st photo.. the sky is beautiful.
Hahaha! Yes it is which I is why I went when I did. We live in a small village and most folk will have gone mid-morning. I love the contrasts in that photo...I couldn't resist
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The sky reminds me Terminator 1 ending!😎
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OMG, that top photo is amazing! Love it! 💙
🤗
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Wow... the sky is such a vivid moody dark blue in that first picture! It's almost inspiring me to write poetry ;-)
I'm glad to hear the elections went well. God knows SA deserves both stability and harmony. You know what they say; 'after the storm comes... the calm.'
@raj808
If you write that poem....
It's a whole lot better than it used to be. Grateful for small mercies.
With more than the odd squall, I am sure...
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Hi @fionasfavourites
Is it OK if I use the picture to accompany the poem I wrote inspired by that image? I will send you a couple of SBI shares as a thank you if I can use the original (properly credited to you in my blog post of course)?
Let me know hun.
Oh yeah, and if you're cool with it message me on discord so I can get a full resolution image from you as trying to download images from steemit just gives a very poor resolution image.
Cheers :-)
Sure! I have sent you a DM
I don't like to vote but is an important action that every people need to do. :)
If it is so important, why not vote?
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I do but I find that boring...
I have never voted on National election. Coz there is no need actually, the process is so corrupt, our vote does not counts. You are lucky that you have the voting power still in your hand and democracy in rising.
@rem-stem I am not sure where you live, but this is exactly why one should vote. Even if you spoil your paper. The more people who do that, then politicians (and government) realise that something is amiss. If, however, you live in a faux democracy as South Africa was before 1994, I understand.
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That first photo is absolutely gorgeous, Fiona, I love the sky!
Interesting info, thanks for sharing. It's true, voting is kindof pretty much choosing the lesser of the evils, isn't it?!
#powerhousecreatives
Ha, yes, I suppose it is. That said, my decision was based more on track record than ideology.
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Really nice photos, I'm glad that your election went well and things seem to be moving in the right direction.
I do hope so!
Dear @fionasfavourites,
like in your country, our country is having its mid term elections and, in our locality, its usually violent. But hopefully, everything will be all right this time.....
We have national elections every five years. No mid-terms. In between we have local government (municipal) elections. Not all of this is entirely smooth sailing - there are hotspot where violence is a feature of the build-up to elections. For reasons too complicated to go into. By and large, though, on the day, all is quiet.
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48 parties? OMG. Life is Hell with only 2 recognized parties. If you aren't in one of those 2 parties you're not going to win. Sounds like there is something that can be taught to other 'democratic' countries.
I completely understand having the 2 extremes and being in the middle. I missed our last state election for the dumbest reason. I was told I should have mailed in my ballot like everyone else. My employer more or less prevented me. It is illegal for them to do. We won't go there because there is so much that is done there that is not legal. Anyway, it was because my political views are different than theirs. So when they complain about our governor, I smart off and say something like, 'Well if I were allowed to vote like I am guaranteed by law to do, then my vote might have made a difference.' It wouldn't have but, just irks me.
How can you be prevented from voting? Do your polling stations not operate in hours that allow you to vote into the evening?
And as for penalising you for having different views? Not very adult. I am sorry.
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Don't be sorry. It's not very adult. It's sad then the go around saying that they are belittled for their opinions. It's just dumb.
Our polls are open usually 7am to 8pm (7pm in some areas) In the state I live in we do get our ballots in the mail, but I like going to the polling center. All employers are supposed to allow you to go vote without any sort of penalty on attendance. I was threatened to be fired if I left. I'm not in a position to lose my job regardless of how horrid they can be.
@fionasfavourites,
There is something concerning about when countries so take democracy for granted that they are surprised to learn that others celebrate a successful election.
I'm glad to have the reminder.
Quill
@quillfire
It's interesting: the poll turnout for our village was 55% and nationally 65%, nearly 10% down on the last election. And many young people (under 30) or the so-called "born frees" didn't even register to vote. So the apathy is beginning. It's combined with disillusionment.
The results have been very interesting with a consistent reduction in the ANC majority - not a bad thing. There is also the marginal increase in support of the lunatic extremes. More importantly though, a move towards support of a party that supports a free market. Especially in the economic hubs. The Western Cape, where we live is not ANC, for the 3rd time. It's the best governed province in the country.
PS 60, I see.... 😉
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@fionasfavourites,
Identity politics, in any country, inevitably leads to failure. The reason is pragmatic, not philosophical. Anything other than a meritocracy unavoidably results in corruption and the massive misallocation of scarce resources ... and this sets up highly destructive self-reinforcing negative feedback loops.
Meritocracies, whether respecting individuals or ideas, continuously weigh the alternatives and the cream rises to the top. The churn of "constant curation" results in the necessary course corrections that the system needs if it is to survive ... and thrive.
Throughout history, countless attempts have been made to short-circuit this fundamental dynamic, usually on ideological grounds, and all have failed. One wonders when it will become apparent to the next group of Utopians that they're attempting to defy a reality as elemental as gravity.
The ANC is pregnant with meaning in South Africa's history but such wonderlust blinds many to its short-comings. An idea is not good or bad because it emanates from someone sporting a Nelson Mandela pin. It's good or bad because it works or it doesn't.
Africa in general is crippled by corruption and a good part of such corruption derives from the effects of tribalism ... and tribalism is the antithesis of a meritocracy.
Of course, it's not just Africa. The Ukraine and Russia are crippled by oligarchs as is Venezuela by ideologues. And, it is STEEM/Steemit's unwillingness to enforce a meritocracy that WILL lead to its demise. If @dan launches MEOS (Steemit 2.0) on June 1 (as is widely rumored), and it has been reformed so as to compensate merit instead of manipulation ... STEEM/Steemit will be dead within a month.
Quill
P.S. Geez ... getting from 59 to 60 seemed to take forever. I'm awaiting the payday. :-)
Ah, yes, @quillfire - those first three paragraphs - yes. But humanity is infested with politics and Politics, not to mention ideologues, despots and megalomaniacs. So....
No-one is more acutely aware of this than I.
Only part of your assertion is true - in South Africa, anyway. Corruption is a pervasive cancer and Zuma's having not just traded on the Zulu card, but having built a tribe of his own, does to some extent, bear out the tribalism theory. Yes, it is, indeed, the antithesis of both democracy and meritocracy. However, the results of this election with a growing urban population, show that tribalism is diminishing. In the rural areas of the Eastern Cape ( where I grew up and went to uni, and where there is a majority rural population) whence some of the ANC's most dominant leaders have come (Mandela, Mhlaba, Hani, Mbeki (father and son), Sisulu (and daughter), you still see blind Xhosa support of the ANC.
However, in the metropolitan areas, this is changing, and has been for a while in the Western Cape, and specifically around Cape Town where the Democratic Alliance has grown and is dominating. Here, much to its annoyance, the ANC is being forced to suck the hind t*t. And Cape Town is the country's legislative capital. Similarly in Gauteng where the ANC lost a significant number of votes and, at times in the vote count, had not mustered 50%, and got in by a ball hair 50,1%, also demonstrates this.
However (isn't there always), in the provinces that are also largely rural, and where Julius Malema (a Mopedi / Northern Sotho) is dominant, there is no large, dominant tribe. It's also the region from which Cyril Rhamaphosa comes, and he's a Bavenda. The ANC took the provinces - with a reduced majority, and Malema's Economic Freedom Fighters have become the official opposition (the provinces are Limpopo, Mpumalanga and Northwest).
When I worked in Johannesburg in my 20's, and then when I travelled there on business, black South Africans who grew up in either Soweto or Thembisa or in Johannesburg, generally, socialise and marry outside the traditional tribal groupings and resent being coralled and labelled in terms of their tribes. That's not to say they don't maintain some of their traditions - they do - it's a bit like our maintaining certain Scottish traditions in our home and my father never forgiving his English wife for being a sasenach. One of my happiest memories is attending a lobola (engagement) ceremony in Soweto: the sister of a Mopedi colleague, marrying a man from outside her tribe. Chipane went on to marry a Swazi woman....
Fiona
PS I have 0.45 to go to reach 60......
@fionasfavourites,
My remark about tribalism was continentally generic. I'm glad to hear there is at least some diminishment of it in South Africa.
Quill
P.S. ... we'll get you over the 60 hump. One whale 50% upvote would do the trick.