Social scientist Dr Rama Naidu says South Africa is not in a positive place 30 years into democracy.
This comes as widespread water and electricity shortages are prompting angry and frustrated communities to embark on protests. Naidu says in such a disappointing situation, choosing not to vote in the May 29th general elections is not the answer.
“I think a lot of people think that not voting is making a statement. It’s not, it is in fact voting for the status-quo. When you don’t vote, you are voting for the situation as it is right now. I think that the issue that people need to understand, not voting is not the answer. But the notion that the people that are standing and the new parties coming up, there’s a plethora of new parties around and it worries me that we have so many but it’s also I think the notion that if we go out to vote in our numbers knowing that this is enough, we want to do something and stand up as citizens. Then if nothing else, my prediction is that the ruling party will lose a substantial amount of the vote this election.”
