South Africa 2014 Elections: Why I will be voting

I had to really think long and hard, about whether I was going to vote or not in South Africa’s 2014 elections. My decision: VOTE!

Many people my age are not sure about whether they will be voting or not. We’re old enough to remember not being able to vote in South Africa’s first ever elections and young enough to feel that we’re just not being heard.

So here are my reasons:

• Freedom to choose:

I want to always have the freedom of choice; I want my children to always have the freedom of choice. Voting allows me to choose, even when I am not sure of whom I should be choosing.

• Freedom to protest:

When the government I put into power or didn’t put into power makes bad decisions, I want to be able to protest loudly and call for a change. If I happen to vote for an opposition party, I want them to have enough seats to be a relevant and vocal opposition. I want them to hear my protest and be able to say enough is enough.

• Apartheid:

Apartheid in any form or guise!

I am not talking just about our history, our white domination, but I am talking about apartheid that could also be a possibility of the future. I am talking about domination by one group of people over another. I will always fight this domination and would hope that my children and children’s children will fight this.

I am young enough to remember the end of the previous regime, but old enough to see it happening in other countries across the world. I am also old enough to know the impact Apartheid had on this beautiful country and to wish that it never happens again.

These are the main reasons why I wish to vote and continue voting for as long as I am a citizen of South Africa.

“What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.”

~ Nelson Mandela, at the 90th birthday celebrations of Walter Sisulu, 2002 [Source]

Image Source: Tom Stoddart, Getty Images