Quote of the week
Universal adult suffrage on a common voters roll is one of the foundational values of our entire constitutional order. The achievement of the franchise has historically been important both for the acquisition of the rights of full and effective citizenship by all South Africans regardless of race, and for the accomplishment of an all-embracing nationhood. The universality of the franchise is important not only for nationhood and democracy. The vote of each and every citizen is a badge of dignity and of personhood. Quite literally, it says that everybody counts. In a country of great disparities of wealth and power it declares that whoever we are, whether rich or poor, exalted or disgraced, we all belong to the same democratic South African nation; that our destinies are intertwined in a single interactive polity.
August and Another v Electoral Commission and Others (CCT8/99) [1999] ZACC 3
As a nation we seem to have lowered the bar on ethics, our moral high ground and values. Politicians and state officials are awarded government tenders directly or via proxies. The ruling party – which gets a lion’s share of funding for political parties – quibbles with its alliance partners over its involvement with a company that does business with a state enterprise, notwithstanding an adverse finding by the Public Protector. South Africa is suffering serious reputational damage and the mood in the country is pessimistic. Our government must seriously attend to the country’s brand and reputation. This must entail the governing party and its subsidiaries saying and doing the right things and holding on to its values that have made our country great. – Makhosini Nkosi in Sowetan
