Voting helps strengthen democracy and change

IN 1994 it was common to find snaking queues of people waiting patiently and proudly to vote, the majority for the first time taking part in this essential facet of a functional democracy.

Young and old queued in a remarkable display that spoke of nation-building, political tolerance and diversity.

Soon afterwards came the new Constitution which contained a Bill of Rights with non-racialism as a principle that set the country on a course for a united future.

The principles in the Constitution remain a guide and it is up to citizens to harness the freedoms and rights to build this united future.

South Africa today remains a divided country, with no clear consensus on the way forward.

Economic upheaval, high unemployment, poverty and inequality remain crucial challenges, with no end in sight.

A lack of meaningful redistribution of wealth remains a key issue that divides the country and the gap between the rich and poor only seems to grow with every passing day.

Recent elections have seen a trickle of voters at some stations.

There has been a steady decline in voter turnout since the first democratic elections and a rise in voter apathy.

This reluctance to visit polls on election day is due to several factors, including disillusionment, lack of trust in political parties or a general sense that singular votes do not make a difference.

The latter argument related to voter apathy has increasingly revealed that so many people are not contributing to the democratic process that if they did vote, this would have a tremendous influence on the electoral process.

For too long, the majority of South Africans could not participate in this most basic of democratic processes.

The ability to cast a vote allows the person at the voting station to continue to contribute to constitutional and democratic transformation.