FORBES AFRICA’s photojournalists immortalize the tension and elation of the South African elections in May that saw the African National Congress win for the sixth time since 1994.



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In what was a landmark 25 years since the first democratic
elections, South Africa registered, voted and elected the African National
Congress (ANC) for the sixth time to govern the nation again for the next five
years. The 2019 elections saw many surprises and plenty more political action
compared to the previous polls.



&nbsp;In the run-up to
election day, political parties (48 in all) emphasized the country’s
socio-economic challenges such as unemployment, education, housing and the
contentious issue of land expropriation. &nbsp;



On May 8, the day the country cast its vote, voters woke
early to congregate and line up at the 22,924 voting stations strewn across the
country. 



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="410" height="556" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/MM3.png.png" alt="" class="wp-image-40745" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/MM3.png.png 410w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/MM3.png-300x407.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/MM3.png-221x300.png 221w" sizes="(max-width: 410px) 100vw, 410px" /><figcaption> FORBES AFRICA’s photojournalists immortalize the tension and elation of the South African elections in May that saw the African National Congress win for the sixth time since 1994. Picture: Motlabana Monnakgotla</figcaption></figure></div>



I was among them, a citizen also doubling as a
photojournalist on the quest to document this historic election, my camera
strapped around my neck and my constant companion.&nbsp; 



This Wednesday morning was particularly cold but voters were
in sweaters and armed with their identity books to have a say in South African
politics with an ‘X’ mark on the ballot paper. 



Mmusi Maimane, the leader of the opposition party, the
Democratic Alliance (DA), was among those at the Presbyterian Church in
Dobsonville, Soweto; the township where he was born.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="929" height="617" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/MM1.png.png" alt="" class="wp-image-40741" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/MM1.png.png 929w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/MM1.png-300x199.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/MM1.png-600x398.png 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/MM1.png-768x510.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 929px) 100vw, 929px" /><figcaption> Mmusi Maimane, the leader of the opposition party, the Democratic Alliance. Picture: Motlabana Monnakgotla </figcaption></figure>



His arrival created a frenzy as international and local
media wrestled with each other for the perfect shot. 



After casting his vote and walking out of the church, he
addressed the public. 



“On such a historic day, it is important to vote in Soweto
with the people of Soweto to express hope and a future for our country. Soweto,
to me, represents the home of where the struggle is and now we’re entering into
a new struggle for jobs for many South Africans. I remember, vividly and well,
when I played in these streets and I remember too well the release of Nelson
Mandela, therefore today, I urge that we come and cast our votes,” Maimane
said.



He spoke about the new struggle.



“To me, there could be nothing more special, nothing more
historic than being able to express our future. Vote for the future of this
country and for the unemployed South Africans; it’s a new struggle and we are
fighting for the protection of freedom and advancement of freedom.”&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 



Post the election results, Maimane was the first DA leader
to not have grown more supporters, whereas the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF),
with the third highest number of votes, gained more in all South African
provinces except the Northern Cape. 



A few kilometers from Dobsonville is Mzimhlophe Hostel. A
hostel among many others in Soweto that erupted with service delivery protests
prior to the elections. On election day, it was more peaceful and locals were
going about their daily lives.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="923" height="617" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/MM8.png.png" alt="" class="wp-image-40742" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/MM8.png.png 923w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/MM8.png-300x201.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/MM8.png-600x401.png 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/MM8.png-768x513.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 923px) 100vw, 923px" /><figcaption>Kwenzi Gwala standing outside what is left of his shack. Picture: Motlabana Monnakgotla </figcaption></figure>



In the same vicinity is a squatter camp (informal
settlement) allegedly set on fire weeks before the elections. 



Residents and brothers Mduduzi (32) and Kwenzi Gwala (22)
came to Johannesburg looking for employment.



“This is my first time voting this year; I wish the economy
could strengthen so we can move out of the squatter camps and live in houses.
Our camp burned around the Easter holidays while we were at church. We used to
sell African beer and our stock got burned along with the money and clothes
that were inside. All we have is what we are wearing now,” Kwenzi says. 



About 12 kilometers away was where national president and
president of the ANC Cyril Ramaphosa cast his vote in his hometown of Chiawelo,
at a local primary school. 



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="925" height="615" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/MM6.png.png" alt="" class="wp-image-40743" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/MM6.png.png 925w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/MM6.png-300x199.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/MM6.png-600x399.png 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/MM6.png-768x511.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 925px) 100vw, 925px" /><figcaption> National president and president of the ANC Cyril Ramaphosa cast his vote in his hometown of Chiawelo. Picture: Motlabana Monnakgotla </figcaption></figure>



The supporters of various parties, the media and voters were
out in full force to witness their president in Soweto.



“The nation and the people are energized. They can see their
votes are heralding a new dawn. This is a vote that reminds me of 1994 when the
people were just as excited as this because they were heralding a new period, a
new future for our country,” said Ramaphosa. 



“Today, this is what I am picking up, our people are excited
about what lies tomorrow and they want to vote for a government that is going
to serve them, that is going to address their needs and aspirations. So, I am
truly humbled by the turnout that I’ve seen here. 



“There is a great vibe and it’s a vibe for democracy, it’s a
vote also for our democratic system that we’ve been building over the last 25
years. So, 25 years later, we still have a nation that is breathing confidence
and excitement casting their vote. Today, I will go home to sleep very peacefully
like I did last night. 



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="929" height="617" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/MM7.png.png" alt="" class="wp-image-40744" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/MM7.png.png 929w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/MM7.png-300x199.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/MM7.png-600x398.png 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/MM7.png-768x510.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 929px) 100vw, 929px" /><figcaption>Brother of South African journalist Shiraaz Mohamed, kidnapped in Syria on January 2017, begs for government intervention. Picture: Motlabana Monnakgotla </figcaption></figure>



“This vote is about confidence, it is about the future and
it is about us that are going to be elected to work a lot harder, much harder
than we have in the past to realize the ideals, wishes and hopes of our people,
so this, to me, is like a rocket booster for democracy and we are going to
build a great country because we will be doing so standing on the shoulders of
our people,” Ramaphosa said. 



Like the DA, the ANC lost more supporters nationally; Gauteng province was the gold prize, for the first time since 1999, the ANC had to battle to remain above 50% to secure the province.



&#8211;Motlabana Monnakgotla







<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Thumbs Up In&nbsp; Vibrant
Yeoville</h2>



The grey, gloomy weather did not dampen the excitement as
South African citizens, young and old, made their way to their respective
voting booths on May 8. 



First-time voters enthusiastically posted images of their
thumbs on social media after their turn polling. Twenty five years
post-apartheid, they did what voters in 1994 could not – flaunt their inky
fingers to the world.&nbsp; 



This year marked the sixth democratic elections since the
fall of racial segregation.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="931" height="617" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/GL4.png1.png" alt="" class="wp-image-40752" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/GL4.png1.png 931w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/GL4.png1-300x199.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/GL4.png1-600x398.png 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/GL4.png1-768x509.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 931px) 100vw, 931px" /><figcaption> Members of South Africa&#8217;s three biggest parties show unity during the South Africa 2019 elections. Picture: Gypseenia Lion</figcaption></figure>



When former President Nelson Mandela’s handcuffs were
removed, a nation was freed from years of brutal laws that marginalized people
of color in South Africa. 



As a young ‘colored’ woman born in 1995, there’s another
layer to my identity as a ‘born-free’ citizen. 



I use the terms ‘colored’ and ‘born-free’ loosely, only
because of the numerous socio-cultural connotations attached to my identity. 



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="410" height="617" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/GL2.png.png" alt="" class="wp-image-40747" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/GL2.png.png 410w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/GL2.png-300x451.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/GL2.png-199x300.png 199w" sizes="(max-width: 410px) 100vw, 410px" /><figcaption> The South African flag could be seen everywhere during the 2019 South Africa elections. Picture: Gypseenia Lion </figcaption></figure></div>



On May 8, I joined the scores of people from the lively Yeoville
suburb, once a cosmopolitan source of pride, but now largely associated with
crime and discord in Johannesburg. 



As a lone female photojournalist in one of the notorious
parts of the inner city, I found myself in the cold with a groveling stomach,
and without a cent to my name. 



The 1970s had seen Yeoville come alive as night clubs and
art and music galleries opened up along the neighbourhood’s main commercial
strip of Rocky Raleigh Street. 



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="926" height="616" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/GL6.png.png" alt="" class="wp-image-40748" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/GL6.png.png 926w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/GL6.png-300x200.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/GL6.png-600x399.png 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/GL6.png-768x511.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 926px) 100vw, 926px" /><figcaption> Police officer survey elections in Yeoville. Picture: Gypseenia Lion </figcaption></figure>



This was before the tightening of segregation policies. Under
apartheid, members of the community were strong supporters of the ANC and
mobilized around the organization when it had been officially banned. 



ANC stalwart Joe Slovo has his political roots in the
community. 



Yeoville’s political scene, just like the culture, was one
of the most vibrant in South Africa in the 1980s. 



It still is today, and on election day, it was even more
apparent as the top three contesting parties gathered outside the Yeoville
Recreation Center. 



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="926" height="618" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/GL3.png.png" alt="" class="wp-image-40749" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/GL3.png.png 926w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/GL3.png-300x200.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/GL3.png-600x400.png 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/GL3.png-768x513.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 926px) 100vw, 926px" /><figcaption> A man who identifies as a feminist gets ready to cast his vote. Picture: Gypseenia Lion </figcaption></figure>



The ANC, EFF and the DA were set up in front of the voting
station.&nbsp; 



The corner was filled with people singing and dancing to
struggle songs. 



Laughter and playful disputes broke out between party
members, and when a passer-by showed concern, an ANC comrade responded with a
trite: “We are a family here, no one is fighting.”&nbsp; 



As voting came to an end, light peeked through the clouds,
even as the crowd continued to sing, this time, more enthusiastically. 



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="925" height="614" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/GL1.png.png" alt="" class="wp-image-40750" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/GL1.png.png 925w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/GL1.png-300x199.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/GL1.png-600x398.png 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/GL1.png-768x510.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 925px) 100vw, 925px" /><figcaption> The Yeoville community showed unrivalled hospitality and fed the reporter. Picture: Gypseenia Lion </figcaption></figure>



The light, for them, was the ray of hope that their ‘X’
marks brought. 



On this day, there was no crime or chaos. The community
showed me unrivalled hospitality and fed me the whole day. 



Water, a chair or anything I needed for comfort was only a
request away. 



My camera loved them and they returned the love. 



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="927" height="613" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/GL7.png.png" alt="" class="wp-image-40751" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/GL7.png.png 927w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/GL7.png-300x198.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/GL7.png-600x397.png 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/GL7.png-768x508.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 927px) 100vw, 927px" /><figcaption> Yeoville residents get ready to cast their votes. Picture: Gypseenia Lion </figcaption></figure>



The future is questionable but for the people of Yeoville,
tomorrow is just another day filled with struggle. 



I returned to the office with a full stomach and a newfound love for a place I was initially apprehensive about.



-Gypseenia Lion

IN PICTURES | Looking Back At The Vibe Of The South African Elections

In the build up to the furore over Pravin Gordhan, the African National Congress (ANC) delivered a slap in the face to scores of its biggest names who endured prison and faced death to put the party into power. It spoke of a yawning gap between the principled roots of the party and its current remote and embattled leadership.
Sixty five ANC stalwarts wrote a letter to the General Secretary of the ANC, Gwede Mantashe, addressed to President Jacob Zuma and the top five in the leadership, castigating the ruling party and calling for change in way it runs.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-5364" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/RZ8F0590-300x286.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="286" />
The letter, in the possession of FORBES AFRICA, was signed by scores of the biggest names in African liberation politics, including three survivors of the so-called Rivonia Trial in 1964 who faced death with Nelson Mandela in 1964. Ahmed Kathrada, Denis Goldberg and Andrew Mlangeni were all found guilty, with Mandela, of sabotage and spent a lifetime in prison.
&nbsp;
Other signatories to the letter:  former Reserve Bank Governor Gill Marcus; former Director General of the Presidency of South Africa Frank Chikane; former Finance Minister Trevor Manuel; former Trade and Industry Minister Alec Erwin; former Speaker of the National Assembly Frene Ginwala; and former ambassador to London Cheryl Carolus.
“We have observed the ill-begotten wealth among some of our leaders at all levels and the resulting ruinous effects on the organization’s moral and political fabric and on society as a whole,” says the letter.
“We have watched as the leadership of the ANC became mired in a cycle of in-fighting occasioned not by any ideological or political difference but personal interest. We believe that many of the factors outlined have contributed significantly to the political assassinations to which we are sadly becoming accustomed.”
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-5361" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Denis-Goldberg_JC-2-of-3-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" />
The letter calls upon the president and the leadership to acknowledge its shortcomings, including failing to act against corruption, nepotism and factionalism.
In reply, on October 3, came a standard letter that astonished many party stalwarts.
The letter, signed by Mantashe, asked why the concerns were not coming through the structures of the ANC. It included the following questions of people who had been loyal members of the movement for more than 50 years.
Which branch of the ANC are you currently a member of?
What has caused you to mobilize a group of 65 comrades outside of the structures of the ANC?
Please advise us of who, if anyone, has paid for the costs of the mobilization of your group?
Please provide a brief summary of your understanding of the objectives of the group?
Many of the ANC veterans on the list were flabbergasted at being brushed off in such a manner and vowed to take the matter further; yet another rift likely to cause conflict and ructions in Africa’s oldest liberation movement.

A Slap In The Face Comrade

More black industrialists and entrepreneurs are needed to save Africa’s richest province. So says Paul Mashatile, the political head of African National Congress in Gauteng, South Africa.
“We want more black industrialists who will run businesses and factories. We don’t want people who are happy with equity (deals) there and there. We want people who can create employment. Jobs are critical in this country. We need to make sure this empowerment is not just people sitting at home because they own shares in companies,” says Mashatile, the provincial chairperson of the ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), and former Gauteng premier.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-4164" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/IMG_0072-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" />
It has been tough times for Gauteng, the province that is home to Johannesburg. In recent years, it has seen the closure of gold mines, high youth unemployment and service delivery protests.
“In Gauteng province the emphasis is the transformation of the economy through modernization and re-industrialization. For the South African economy to grow, the Gauteng province has to grow faster – above the levels of four to six percent – and then you can drive growth nationally. The focus in the next five years has to be on the transformation of the economy. We want to be part of the re-industrialization on the continent. People are talking about Africa rising and we think Gauteng should be the gateway into the continent, to ensure that we are part of this growth on the continent,” says Mashatile.
With the gold mining prospects in decline in the West Rand region of Johannesburg, Mashatile says alternative economic plans are underway.
“Because mining is on the decline in the West Rand, so we have decided to put more emphasis on the green economy,” he says.
Mashatile says the province has partnered with the private sector and institutions of higher learning to train unemployed youth.
“There are a lot of young people in the townships that are graduates who are unemployed. We are turning them into entrepreneurs; now we start hearing about the township economy that is absorbing a lot of youth,” he says.
David Makhura, the Premier of Gauteng, in his state of the province address in February, said private investment in mixed residential property developments – in places such as Rietfontein, Modderfontein and Midrand – will create about 260,000 jobs in the next 20 years at a cost of $13 billion.
Shanghai Zendai, a Chinese company, in September launched the first phase of the $6.2-billion infrastructure development of residential, industrial and commercial space in Modderfontein, east of Johannesburg.

‘We Can’t Just Sit At Home’

It’s 6:30 on an early winter morning. Eighty-year-old Josiah Mmutlwatse, watches a heavy police and army contingent roaming near his home. In Bekkersdal, a township south west of Johannesburg, the foggy air is filled with the smell of the previous night’s charred remains. It is election day in South Africa and the mood is tense.
On the eve of elections, the unrest in Bekkersdal resumed; with three polling stations torched by angry residents. The spontaneous violence began months before. This turbulent township, near the gold mines of the West Rand, has seen a string of unabated service delivery protests. As the elections drew closer, protests intensified with threats to disrupt the polls.
But none of this could deter pensioner Mmutlwatse, who at the crack of dawn was the first in the queue at his polling station. He has never missed an opportunity to cast his vote since the first democratic elections in 1994.
The former bus driver patiently waits for the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) personnel to erect a marquee to be used as a polling station. Thirty minutes later, he is pleased to have exercised his democratic right to elect his government.
Although his allegiance still lies with the ruling African National Congress (ANC), Mmutlwatse hopes these polls will bring some much-needed change.
“I voted for the liberation party as always – ANC. It set us free from apartheid. It is hope for our children. Since we have voted, we want the elected people, even president (Jacob) Zuma, to listen to our cries. Our votes should not be blank cheques.”
Last year, Nomvula Mokonyane, the premier of Gauteng, raised the ire of Bekkersdal residents when she said the ANC does not need the residents’ dirty votes. Mokonyane was responding to threats that they would boycott the elections if service delivery was not improved.
“I am hurt by the unrest the dissenting youth brought, some people are not appreciative of our hard-earned freedom to vote. The government has a big task ahead. It must be explained to them that our democracy did not come on a silver platter. People died for it. It is not for sale.”
Mmutlwatse has lived in the township for more than fifty years, coming from the nearby farms. He rented a backyard room for a year before he could secure a four-room home in 1950, where he still lives with his three daughters. Out of his seven children, they are the only ones still alive.
“It was the first time I felt I had some dignity. If you have a house of your own, where your children could call home, no matter the size, it is freedom.”
A lack of housing and the high rate of unemployment are challenges that the youth in the area must face, says Mmutlwatse. The majority are shack dwellers.
Though Mmutlwatse owned a house for many years, he says the ANC-led government made him feel it was really his own when he received the title deed a decade ago. But he acknowledges that Bekkersdal is a far cry from a functional area.
He knows the community inside out and in the past used his old minibus to transport people, sometimes for free. He was like a godfather to the younger generation.
“Education should be the priority here. We understand the youth is not up in arms for no reason, they are frustrated by the government’s empty promises. I watch them roaming streets. They are not at school and many are unemployed,” he says.
While Mmutlwatse remains optimistic, his community still needs some convincing.
Twenty six kilometres away in Soweto, Happy Phiri, a reformed convict turned entrepreneur, is satisfied with the progress the government has made so far.
“I could not miss this one because I value voting. It’s something many South Africans were denied for many years. I spent 14 years in prison and the time spent there robbed me of certain things, including voting,” says Phiri.
Phiri, a 48-year-old father of three, was up at 3AM, two hours earlier than usual to make sure he didn’t miss casting his vote before he went to his workshop where he manufactures candles. On this day, he had an order for a hundred candles for a Mother’s Day event at a local church.
Phiri turned his life around when he joined the non-governmental organization NICRO while incarcerated. He left Mangaung Prison in 2010, trained as a candle maker.
With three years in business, Phiri has employed three people and bought a delivery van and equipment worth almost R100,000 ($9,600).
Bekkersdal’s very own Arab Spring will not die as the elections end; a politician just has to take a stroll through the run-down streets to realize this.
<h4>Red Berets And Tears</h4>
It was a record turnout for a South African election. More than 18 million voted in a poll on May 7 that threw up more than a few surprises.
It was one of those rare elections where the big story was not how much the ruling party gained, but how much it lost. The result was never in doubt, neither was the protest vote that hundreds of thousands of disgruntled South Africans cast.
In the end, the African National Congress (ANC) stormed home losing a lot less support than many of their supporters feared. It leaves the ruling party short of the two thirds majority, which gives it greater parliamentary powers, but it virtually assures control of South Africa until at least 2019, maybe beyond. It also assures that economic policy is likely to remain with few radical measures required to recover disgruntled supporters. The word among party insiders at the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) in Pretoria – the election nerve center – was that, if anything, government policy is likely to move more in favor of the free market as the money men around the world appear to have said all bets are off if there is a threat of socialism and nationalization.
Both are flaunted, like battle flags, by the young turks of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). In many ways, the EFF was the story of this election. The party was formed in October, when red bereted leader, Julius Malema, a disgruntled and belligerent former ANC loyalist, decided to give his old employers one in the eye. The idea was to take the high moral ground of socialism and power to the people that helped sweep the ANC to power in the first elections 20 years ago. It appears to have worked for the EFF, who, from a standing start gathered more than a million votes. It means Malema and 24 red bereted new menbers will sit in Parliament in Cape Town this year. It may spice up proceedings.
But the EFF may take heed of a cautionary tale from another opposition party, COPE. In 2009, COPE, also peopled by disgruntled former ANC members, garnered a stunning 1.3 million votes in its first tilt at the polls. This year, COPE got a mere 100,000 votes, less than 1%. Will EFF be able to cope in 2019?
“This isn’t the end of COPE,” says spokesman Johann Abrie. Really?
Agang – the party founded by Mamphela Ramphele and promising a new tomorrow – may rue its decision to fight the polls. It was humbled and ended up with two lousy seats.
The Democratic Alliance, taking years to shrug off its image as a white middle-class party, made more solid gains.
“We gain 3% every time around, then we cry for five years and try again,” says a DA loyalist.
That means maybe our grandchildren will witness the inauguration of the first DA president of South Africa. In a decade, or two, of power the DA too could be criticized by voters for being an out-of-touch incumbent that thinks it owns the country. Maybe?
The path of democracy was far from smooth in South Africa. There were threats and arrests in Alexandra, in Johannesburg, after fighting between rival parties. Voters in the tiny farming town of Tzaneen, in Limpopo, stormed  a voting station and damaged it. Two people were shot, one dead, in KwaZulu Natal.
Elsewhere, a ballot box was found dumped on a roadside and a school storing ballot papers was broken into. These will be investigated by the IEC as it prepares for the 2019 election.
“These remain isolated incidents that we are taking very seriously. We can all agree the process is going well and we can be proud of our nation and our democracy,” says Pansy Tlakula, the head of the IEC.

Hope Dawns After  A Night Of Flames

South Africa’s youth represent around a third of the country’s population. Young people are the future; they are a national resource and a source of renewal.
The country’s 20-year-old democracy includes ‘born frees’, referring to the generation born after the apartheid era ended in 1994. They have only known a free South Africa. It is estimated that just over 600,000 South Africans were born the year the African National Congress (ANC) came to power. The polls will determine a new National Assembly as well as new legislatures in each of the country’s nine provinces. As per the website of the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), there are about 700,000 registered male and female voters in the 18-19 age group.
There has been a lot of speculation about the impact the vote of the ‘born frees’ is likely to have; some say this generation is apathetic and uninterested in the current political discourse. FORBES WOMAN AFRICA took to the streets of Johannesburg to gauge the sentiments of the young voter.
<h5>One excited registered voter is Nikita Maharajh from Durban in KwaZulu-Natal province. She is a graduate student of chemistry at the University of Witwatersrand.</h5>
“As a kid I remember reading a poem which said, ‘one vote can change the nation’, and it has stuck with me until today. Born in 1994, I am a product of democracy. I hope  our generation will be the change for a better South Africa.”
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-6113" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/FWA-2014-Apr-May-030-031-FOCUS-Born-frees-002-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" />
<h5>Refilwe Morapeli has heard stories of the hardships faced by her parents’ generation. Morapeli’s father was a political activist during the apartheid years. She refuses to be swayed by the politics of the past, and has chosen to find her own identity without being cynical.</h5>
“Being able to vote at my age is incredible. My parents and grandparents lived through apartheid and I believe they have set the standard of the importance of being involved with citizens of the country and how morality should be part of our country’s values.”
<h5>Courtney Townsend, a photography student at Vega School of Leadership, believes casting her vote will increase her chances of changing the future.</h5>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-6109" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/FWA-2014-Apr-May-030-031-FOCUS-Born-frees-003-207x300.jpg" alt="" width="207" height="300" />
“I live on a farm in Nelspruit [capital of Mpumalanga province], and our house is the only decent one in the area. We are surrounded by hundreds of shacks occupied by people who haven’t tasted the fruits of South African democracy. The majority of families residing around my parents’ farm, Low’s Creek, either work at the mines in the area or in nearby farms, and their children attend schools that cater a very low standard of education that can only get them so far in life. The government has failed its people. The wealth gap, for which I hold it accountable, still needs to be addressed.”
<h5>Dumelang Makhooane is a 20-year-old first year photography student at Vega School of Leadership in Johannesburg. Despite the freedom of choice in the upcoming elections, she says many first-time voters will be influenced by their parents.</h5>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-6110" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/FWA-2014-Apr-May-030-031-FOCUS-Born-frees-004-300x205.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="205" />
“Freedom is an illusion. As much as you get democracy, you don’t really get the democracy [that was promised]. As much as my generation is encouraged to participate in this significant election, it does not change the fact that a huge governing body in the life of anybody my age is family. Our parents still play the role of government in our lives.”

Tag: African National Congress

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Hope Dawns After A Night Of Flames

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