Democracy in Action

It’s nearly election time in South Africa. The elections taking place are for local appointments following the 2009 national elections that put the African National Congress (ANC) at the helm of the country for the fourth term. Even if one is oblivious to the local news, it is very apparent. Various party posters have begun to spring up on each and every street light and electrical pole. With Election Day nearing, the posters are often three or four deep, each one climbing latterly one on top of the other up the pole. Each poster has the name of the party, a picture and often a slogan of some sort.

I don’t know what they all say, unless I see the exact sign in English. Posters are written, most often but not exclusively, in Afrikaans, Xhosa or English. Other areas with different demographics wield signs in other languages. In a country with eleven official languages, and many more spoken languages, I am getting used to a multi-lingual existence. Television programs are produced in different languages. Many local programmes, and particularly sports, are in multiple languages. So one minute somebody will be speaking is Tswana, the next Afrikaans, next Zulu and then English and finally back to Tswana.

There must be at least as many political parties as there are languages in the country. There is a vigorous engagement in the election process. The political discourse is laden with reminders of the decades-long battle for democracy and freedom. Rhetoric is flung from all political perspectives. One party wants the Western Cape, the province where I live, to secede from the rest of South Africa in effort to “end ANC rule forever”. But the discussion typically revolves around political processes, employment and services, mostly the latter.

There are many differences between the United States elections and South African elections. There will be two ‘positions’ up for grabs; city mayor and local positions broken into wards. Names do not appear on the ballot as only parties are voted into elected positions. In some cases, the party does not even announce who will be assigned the position before the elections. Parties are voted on according to ideological principles and policies. The biggest difference, though, is that voting day is a national holiday in South Africa. And with relatively few holidays, as compared to South Africa, I think that’s a difference the United States could learn from!