Why is it of cardinal importance to register and vote in this year's general elections (which will most probably take place early in May)?
The gist of the answer to that question is that it is in the interests of all South Africans that the political majority of the ANC is reduced.
The ideal is to reduce it to below 50% so that a coalition of opposition parties can form a government of which a party like the FF Plus will be part so as to promote and further the values and interests of its voters on the level of national government.
One of the biggest problems in this regard, however, is that there are voters who are apathetic and thus refuse to register or vote. They have many reasons for this. One reason that is put forward regularly is that they do not want to be part of a process that lends 'legitimacy' to the government, another is that a stay-away vote does not really have any advantage for the ANC and yet another is that it won't help to vote for a smaller party.
Al three of these are totally wrong. South Africa uses a proportional voting system which means that every stay-away vote that could have been against the ANC is as good as a vote for the ANC; it also means that every vote against the ANC carries exactly the same weight. The only condition is that your party must have parliamentary representation in the national elections.
To clarify, consider South Africa's electoral system as being a large scale. One the one hand you have the ANC apples (the government) and on the other hand, you have all the other apples grouped together (the opposition).
Suppose there are six ANC apples and four opposition apples. Then the ANC has six out of ten, or 60%. A single opposition apple decides to jump off the scales because it does not want to vote. Suddenly the scale tips even more in the ANC's favour even though it did not gain a single apple.
Now the ANC has six out of nine apples, which comes down to a majority percentage of 66%.
The apple that jumped off the scales, which represents the opposition voters who do not vote in protest or due to apathy, serves to directly increase the ANC's support. In effect it is the same as putting on an ANC T-shirt and making your mark for the ANC on election day. The outcome is the same.
With regard to the argument that a single vote does not really make a difference, the following is very important to take note of: in 2014, there were 36,67 million people older than 18 years who were entitled to vote, but only 25,388 million registered to vote. That means nearly 31% of the people who could vote, did not even register.
In the elections, approximately 27% of the voters who had registered did not vote, which means that 58% of the people who could vote, did not. The result is that the ANC is governing our country with the support of only 31,18% of all potential voters.
Thus: with the support of less than one third of all the people who are entitled to vote, the ANC rules in Parliament with a 62% majority. The ANC is de facto ruling South Africa with a minority. Each of the non-voters probably reasoned that his or her single vote would not make a difference.
Every single vote, every apple on the scale against the ANC, is equally important for reducing the ANC's majority, irrespective of which opposition party gets the vote. So saying that you are wasting your vote by voting for a smaller party is an outright lie. The DA frequently uses this argument.
Make sure that your interests are furthered by your own party, either as part of an opposition coalition or as part of a coalition government, as is presently the case in the Tshwane Metro.
Parties that say anything to the contrary are dishonest and only spread uncertainty among voters who then stay away from the polls resulting in a greater majority for the ANC.
;
