It’s an age old tactic used by politicians across the globe to woo voters ahead of an election. Just next door, in Zimbabwe, President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party is accused of buying votes from as early as the 1980’s by donating food, land or technology to the underclass which often has limited access to all of the above.
The Institute for a Democratic Alternative for Zimbabwe told the country’s Independent newspaper vote buying is essential to “sustaining ZANU-PF’s political regeneration”.
Now, we must assess what political regeneration means for liberation movements that were established to overthrow oppressive regimes but don’t necessarily possess the capacity to govern. In this case ZANU-PF and South Africa’s ANC are in the same boat; first time governments.
Liberation movements that ascend to power after some sort of struggle are often regarded as heroes until the time comes for them to roll out services and take care of the people that put them in power. Unlike Zimbabwe, where ZANU-PF consolidated its control of the state after ridding Rhodesia of Ian Smith, Nelson Mandela facilitated the creation of a multi-party state, governed by the ANC, that tolerates strong opposition and a critical media landscape.
These two elements have become crucial voices in exposing the shortfalls of the ANC government during their first two decades in power. To the elderly, the ANC flag and its past leaders evoke memories of defeating apartheid and overcoming brutal beat-downs by white state security officers and the massacre of hundreds of black people in order to maintain a minority rule in SA. To the youth, the ANC flag is a fading shade of liberation and instead has been brightly coloured by corruption and financial scandals, a perception largely created by the opposition and media.
Highly publicized and criticised shortfalls are threatening the ANC’s ability to secure a majority win in this year’s general elections. So, if you’re not able to collect votes by riding the liberation wave due to poor service, alternative methods of winning the elections must emerge. Enter the politics of the stomach.
When the underclass is made up of a majority of young people disgruntled with the ruling party but their parents remain loyal due to the victories of the past, township conversations become politically charged and who to vote for becomes a matter of loyalty or respect to those who were killed in the struggle. But when you’ve been living off one meal a day and an average of a R700 welfare grant per month for more than two years, your vote becomes a bargaining chip.
The department of social development ‘s reaction to today’s report in the City Press newspaper on the ANC using (govt funded) food parcels to secure votes some be summed up as this: “It is insulting to suggest that our people can be bought with food parcels.” Well, I disagree.
My father served as a ward councilor in our Eastern Cape community for four years (I was about 9 or 10 years old when he was elected). During this time, we would travel through our humble province during every election, be it local govt or national. I vividly remember food parcels loaded on trucks or bakkies being handed to the underclass and community halls flooded with people who looked to the ANC as their refuge, though I could never establish who bought the food! Needless to say the Eastern Cape has always been a stronghold that’s brought home the majority of votes in nearly all the elections since the dawn of democracy for the spear and shield. I’ve always wondered what impact those machangani goodie-bags had on persuading the people to vote for a better life for all.
The beauty of South Africa’s democracy is of course that your vote is your secret, so whoever you promise your X on the ballot paper to, may not get it in the end.
@van1go
GRASSROOTS 