South AfricaMail & Guardian2 d ago

The vote was never the whole of freedom

The ballot boxes have closed, the votes have been counted and the political contest concluded. The immediate focus will be on political negotiations as parties seek to carve out coalition and power-sharing arrangements. Yet, as South Africa enters the next five-year local government term following its sixth democratic local government elections, democracy’s most important work is only beginning. As many analysts and ordinary citizens reflect on the November 4 local government elections, we must ask what it means to honour the sacrifices through which the vote was won, and translate that right into dignity, accountability and cohesion. Voting should never be treated as an ordinary administrative act.

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