Why the poor always vote ANC

21 June 2011 - 13:34 By David Lucas
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Things HAVE changed in South Africa. For the past 12 years the economy was running smoothly, our debt was very low and the lives of many started to change.

Image: SYDNEY SESHIBEDI

But then some saw it fit to start demolishing the forward trend by looting. So now you have millions whose lives had started to change supporting the looters, because of what they have seen can be achieved by a black government.

And those who were still in line to get a house, a job or an education will always feel hard done by. Those who feel they were overlooked have issues with the current government.

Nine out of 10 blacks will say the government is doing well since they have an RDP house or have running water or get a grant - things many did not get in the past as they were either TBVC citizens and did not qualify for these services.

They also were not allowed to come and stay in South Africa of their birth, because they were now TBVC citizens and were so called “foreigners”. Life was hard for them as most of the TBVC areas were rural, with a high poverty, illiteracy and unemployment rate.

Also human rights abuses were the order of the day, as tribal chiefs were a law unto themselves.  So who can blame them if they can’t see anything wrong with the government officials misappropriating a million rands here and a billion there?

For them it’s nothing as it does not affect them directly, for they don’t pay for water, school fees and other amenities. They are only concerned about having a roof over their head and a job - no matter how little it pays.

For them it’s about being able to face their family as a breadwinner. It’s these little things that make many vote the way they have been voting for years.  It will take a major stuff up by government for these people to see the reality of what corruption can do. And most importantly it will have to affect them directly for them to do something about it.

Also it will have to be a person within government or the ruling party who alerts them to the problem, not an opposition party or any other race. In Setswana it’s called “go mpampetsa” which means defending your kin.

In a nut shell that’s what will make a poor person sleep with the devil, as long as he has a job and a full belly.

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