Some years ago I read a book titled Is SA Too Dumb For Democracy? Not only depressing but scary reading. One recalls the wish by then Rhodesian prime minister Ian Smith for a qualified vote when the writing was on the wall for his government. The belief was that educated people would vote "sensibly". Of course, this was discriminatory and remains so today. No true democracy, to my knowledge, has adopted this practice. This should not prevent us from asking the question — what would SA look like post the December ANC elective conference and the 2019 general elections if only "educated" and presumably "sensible" people qualified to vote? In this light Zuma has publicly stated that he is opposed to "clever blacks", and perhaps not surprisingly there is a common perception that the ANC wants to keep the voting masses both ignorant and dependent on social grants, thereby ensuring their continued support. The party appears to have been depressingly successful in this regard. At the past w...
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