South Africans should vote for their right to complain

Everybody should vote.

Why?

Well it’s simple; so that they have the right to complain.

Lets’ be honest, with the coming voting and elections no one will believe the results, no matter what they say. Thanks to Zimbabwe and various other governments and corrupt officials everyone now knows that the rigging of votes is easier than previously believed and done more often than any will ever admit. So it comes as no surprise as people think three times on whether it’s worth it or not to go to the voting stations and cast an opinion.

Our governments have become so synonymous with corruption that we find it easier to just take the public holiday and do our own thing instead of going to vote, because even if we didn't, someone else would do it for us, right?

Sadly there exists no reason or argument that can dissuade people from giving life to such a reality, as it is after all, a reality. However should that really be the reason not to step up?

Even the politicians are fearful of a country that takes action and begins to demand better of the ones in charge of running things. In recent news we can even see just how desperate our very own president is to keep the votes in their favour. After Sunday’s rally that saw many people walking out in the midst of his speech, we see how Mr. President then tried to fight back as he goes so far as to violate the very few protective tools rape victims have, in order to justify his extreme spending.

Now while we take a moment to just realize that this tactic has effectively destroyed any chance our president has of ever denying claims of ignorance [again] in terms of his infamous little Nkandla village, we also need to realize how low politicians are prepared to go in order to garner sympathy from the people.

It seems to me that the president has forgotten the little detail that most people live in conditions where his wife’s ordeal are something of an everyday occurrence. So where then are those people’s personal villages to protect them and their loved ones.

I don’t mean to cheapen or degrade his wife’s ordeal, but I'm pretty sure everyone who has been through such traumatic events all deserve the same amount of sympathy and with that mind frame should the president really expect the people to view his excessive spending on his security over the improvement of the country’s security?

The president’s actions, while distasteful, are just a few peeks into the extremes politicians will go to prevent the people from taking any unwanted action and despite many protests the ANC isn't the only party guilty of this. It’s an unfortunate tool of every party running for the top and I doubt that will ever change, now or in the future.

So if the corrupt system we have become so used to watching won’t change, then why don’t the people change?

The mere act of stepping up and making your mark, regardless of who you choose, is already a gigantic step forward to changing something. It’s the same step that changed the long-ago past that our current government clings onto.

So everyone should vote and claim their right to complain.