Whether you believe corruption is a recent phenomenon in democratic South Africa or it has always been there, with evidence coming to light only now — the fact remains that we are devoid of any genuine options to elect representatives who will have our best interests at heart.

It might be worth considering what voting means in 2019 rather than to be beholden with what it meant in 1994. The vote in these elections no longer means the same as it did then when freedom was at stake. Our new struggle is to guard against the careless betrayal of the ideals of the Constitution by using the vote against us.

And it is only by withholding the vote that politicians will take an honest interest in listening to the grievances of people. If we continue to vote as we have done, with a clear deficit of politicians interested in change, political parties will continue with their blatant disregard for the people who put them in office while prioritising the interests of big business which funds them or the factional groupings that enable their corruption.

It is at times like these that politicians return to swindle legitimate power from us — the voters. I suggest we do not give them that power. It is not cynicism to not accept that there is a New Dawn in South Africa — especially when one considers the many new dawns and renewals we have had over the past few elections. What politicians seem to do remarkably well is to keep their jobs amid gross underperformance and corruption.

And voting for a “lesser evil” in the 2019 national elections will not allow us to evade the real crisis that plagues our society. At the heart of the matter is that we have a political landscape that lacks accountability, moral integrity and innovative ideas to take us out of the conundrum that we have been sinking under for years. But what we do have are finely curated public relations campaigns by parties that want to present trustworthiness, rather than embody it.

Our country has never been able to solve its problems, but rather has grown proficient at slipping things under the carpet and hoping for the best. From the transition into democracy, so much was left unspoken when justice was mostly blind. This is the heritage of our country. It will be no surprise that those implicated in State Capture will not only most likely walk free, but continue in their government posts with impunity.

In these elections, voting will cost us the standard with which to judge any other politician who has ambitions of running for office. And the bar was set much lower already when Jacob Zuma, after a rape trial and more than 700 counts of corruption, was still voted in as president and served almost two terms in office. And when the country was crying out for his removal, the ANC protected him through multiple votes of no confidence in Parliament.

The EFF, on the other hand, works hard to exploit the moral force of socialism and the genuine struggles of landless black people. And in a country with such high unemployment and poverty, it is easy to look for hope in a party that seems to be the only one that speaks about the realities of the poor and then hope that their otherwise undesirable bad traits will eventually go away. But actions have always spoken louder than words, even though we choose to ignore them.

Which is a similar tactic that the Democratic Alliance takes by denying the extent race plays a part in the quality of life that a person has in this country. It makes it easier for the party to disregard the rights of the poor during mass evictions and the ushering in of gentrification.

But in our politics, the choices are few. And so people are forced to settle, even with a party whose track record of governance is not as clean as it presents it to be.

And while there are many other smaller political parties, none seem to have a relevant message worth considering to solve this country’s problems. It could possibly be that their public relations machinery is not up to the standards of the other parties to entice voters to listen to them. Either way, we need to be wary of giving away the only power we have — the vote. Once they take it, it is gone until the next elections in five years.

If more people were to refuse to participate in the elections, then political parties will see a growing demographic of potential voters they need to listen to. Only by abstaining from voting will politicians be forced to change. Giving them another chance or voting for an alternative that is “not as bad” only encourages a culture of impunity and overlooking the electorate after elections.

If only we could raise our expectation of politicians and show our discontent. Maybe then, they might rise to the challenge. DM