During the heyday of National Party rule it was said that its loyal supporters would vote for a broomstick if it was the NP candidate. Many mediocre NP candidates won against better qualified opposition candidates. They were known as "Broomstick Nats".
When I canvassed for the Progressive Federal Party, some Afrikaners said they liked PFP policies but would still vote NP. The NP had so identified itself with Afrikaner identity that it was a betrayal to vote for anything else.
"The tribe had spoken" and other issues were secondary. Those Afrikaners who broke away publicly were ostracized. You could usually predict a constituency election by the language breakdown of voters.
Race has been a similar determining factor in elections since 1994. The belief that its supporters are largely "locked-in" fuels the arrogance of the ANC, just as it did the NP. Is there another political party in the world that would refuse to publicise its mayoral candidates?
It's an amazing contempt for the voters. You can't even be sure that an ANC mayor will be on the published list of candidates.
After the last local government elections the ANC deftly deployed Gauteng Health MEC Gwen Ramokgopa to be Tshwane mayor. It seemed that even she was surprised by this move.
The only mayoral candidate they have announced is for Cape Town, the one city they admit they won't win. It's clear that the ANC's internal machinations take precedence over voter concerns.
As COSATU's Zwelinzima Vavi pointed out "Popular candidates favoured by communities were replaced by sycophants who will defend those who put them there when they want tenders." He also noted: "People have been nominated, but they have no skills to do the jobs."
Vavi is admirably frank about ANC deficiencies, but what does this matter if COSATU still urges its members to vote ANC?
Julius Malema of the ANC Youth League says "Even if you like the face or not, as long as next to that face is the emblem of the ANC, you must vote for that face." And President Jacob Zuma has said that voting for the opposition is a wasted vote as they will not win.
This is the logic of a one party state where elections just confirm the party in power. It's what ANC bigwigs might think, but ordinary people do have a choice.
Are they going to continue acting like the abused wife returning to her husband only to be abused again? Vavi knows the answer.
As he says "The people are not fools. They are not going to vote on the basis of loyalty forever." The ANC pushes loyalty because the facts reveal that Democratic Alliance-run councils govern far better.
Minister of Cooperative Governance Sicelo Shiceka said two years ago that many municipalities were in a "state of paralysis and dysfunction". Little has changed since then. Shiceka himself is embroiled in scandal about luxury trips and allegedly appointing a girlfriend as chief financial officer of the bankrupt Madibeng municipality, with disastrous results.
There is an exciting opportunity to reject all of this at the 18th May local government elections. Remember, as always, you get the government you deserve.
This article by Jack Bloom, DA Leader in the Gauteng Legislature, first appeared in The Citizen.
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