In 2024, young people have a chance to create a South Africa in which they have a future

18 Dec 2023

We are a country whose people overcame the National Party, the party of apartheid – we can overcome the party of corruption, nepotism, neglect and brutality. As Nelson Mandela said: ‘If the ANC does to you what the apartheid government did to you, then you must do to the ANC what you did to the apartheid government.’

Dear South African youths.

I’m writing this letter to warn you and to appeal to you.

Election time is around the corner and the ANC will turn up in your neighbourhood with their tricky styles and shenanigans.

Experience has taught me some of the signs to look out for. So, this letter is an early Christmas present – my guide to sniffing out ANC electoral trickery. But it’s also an appeal to not let the ANC rule for another Christmas – you will have the chance in 2024 to create a different South Africa.

What will the ANC do around election time?

The ANC will create useless, short-term jobs as part of the Expanded Public Works Programme then boast about job creation. But when the election has passed, they forget about you and cut off those useless jobs.

During election time they will grade roads they haven’t done in the past.

They will supply water tankers for our villages that have been waiting for water connections for years.

After the elections, the tankers and graders will disappear, along with the politicians.

What has 30 years of ANC rule created?

The ANC has created a present with little benefit to our people, with poverty and unemployment, a housing and land crisis, and a water crisis. And they have created a future without hope. No wonder our young people turn to drugs when their present is a nightmare, and their future offers no improvement.

The ANC has created an environment where, 30 years after the brutality of apartheid was done away with, brutality is still with us daily.

Let me tell you a story from the village of Muchipisi in the Collins Chabane Municipality.

A 52-year-old woman from the village was recently found in a pool of blood, after having been stabbed. It’s believed that her stepsons murdered her after she refused to hand over their father’s cattle and state pension money.

ANC has not delivered services, it has only delivered death, brutality, poverty, indignity.

The ANC has created an environment in which nine members of the Mathebula family, in my village of Mahlathi, must live in a single mud house that may fall down at any moment in heavy rains.

Men, women and children reduced to this state of poverty, without dignity, living like this – and no concern from the ANC.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Open Letter from Mahlathi Village, Limpopo: We need a cure for Insulation Syndrome

Not everything can be blamed on the ANC, it’s true. But if there were decent jobs and decent housing, at the very least, maybe situations like the murder in Muchipisi, and the awful state of the Mathebula family home, could be prevented. The deceased woman’s stepsons would have employment and not be scheming to murder their relatives to snatch what they can. The Mathebula family would have the space they need to live in safety and dignity, in a place where children can sleep and study and play.

What can our young people create?

So, it has come to this, young people: This election is more than just a choice between political parties, but a choice between life and death. The ANC has not delivered services, it has only delivered the situations I described before – death, brutality, poverty, indignity.

I know when it comes to voter registration, there are different views in my village because of lack of service delivery.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Limpopo villagers along the D3810 say no to voter registration

But let’s remember that there is not only one political party. Let’s break the mindset that only the ANC can deliver and that voting in another party would be starting from scratch, like some who are part of the #NoRoadNoVote campaign in my area have suggested.

We are a country who overcame the National Party, the party of apartheid – we can overcome the party of corruption, nepotism, neglect and brutality. As Nelson Mandela said: “If the ANC does to you what the apartheid government did to you, then you must do to the ANC what you did to the apartheid government.”

Young people, now is the time for change – let us be brave, let us do the right thing.

An alternative party will make mistakes, for sure, and we young people will have to stay on guard, fighting for what we need. But is it not true that when the ANC fails to deliver, we toyi-toyi, burn tyres and close roads? We must bring the same energy and vigilance to any party in power.

The ANC’s ears are closed, others’ ears might be opened.

I’m appealing to you to look for a change and give another party a chance. We have to dream that another South Africa is possible – a South Africa that belongs to us, the young people of our country. It’s up to us to create the South Africa we want, and voting is one way to do that. DM

Israel Nkuna is a ward committee representative at Ward 19, a community activist, Human Rights, Social Grant's Activist and Writer at Mahlathi Village in Limpopo, Giyani.

Israel will be writing a monthly article about election 2024, painting pictures in his villages and the entire Giyani. You may also contact him at [email protected] or on WhatsApp: 082 433 8538.

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Politics

What will the ANC do around election time?

What has 30 years of ANC rule created?

What can our young people create?