GARETH VAN ONSELEN: SA voters are the problem
The problem is not that voters don’t have a choice, it is that they refuse to make one
Over the past few years, a significant number of new political parties have formed. They include Action SA (founded in 2020), Arise SA (2023), the Cape Coloured Congress (2020), Rise Mzansi (2023) and Xiluva (2023).
Many of them have as foundational to their rationale a countenance to voter apathy. They blame an unaccountable democratic system and venal, distant politicians as the two most powerful contributing factors in this regard. In turn, they offer a new politics: an approach that is based on “grassroots activism” and people-centred policy, designed to reinvigorate the electorate and bring those who have opted out back into the fray. They are sick of the politics of politics. ..
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