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
Shameless canvassing for votes. . .
If you are not a graduate of the University of Stellenbosch, you can skip this post. For some reason I have been nominated as a candidate for election to the University of Stellenbosch Council by the alumni of that university. As I would be embarrassed if I get the lowest number of votes, I am hoping a few friends and readers of this Blog might vote for me. This can be done electronically. All the details can be found by clicking here. If you believe I should be kept off the Council at all cost because of my dangerous views you need not vote, of course! If you are not an alumni of Stellenbosch University you cannot vote either.
