It’s election week and there are several things that can’t go unsaid.
None of it is meant to convince you one way or another. But they are meant to highlight a few truths to help you think through our political landscape, hopefully a bit more clearly.
Firstly, it’s important to understand that our democracy is not just about your needs and expectations alone.
Your needs and expectations are not unimportant of course, but they have to be weighed against the needs of your community and society at large.
It’s a tough ask for most people, but you have to keep in mind that while things may not be perfect in your world politically speaking, for many people, it may very well be a whole lot better than before.
For example, there are people who never had something as basic as a tap in their homes for generations, and now they do.
Even a single light bulb in a home that previously had only candles, makes a huge difference in the lives of the residents.
The flip side of that, is that it shouldn’t take 30 years to make this happen.
That having been said, there are other countries that gained their independence more than 30 years ago and continue to struggle with some very basic problems that we have managed to overcome.
Comparing ourselves with developed nations isn’t a fair assessment and will always leave us wanting. But next to other developing countries, we don’t fare too badly.
The same cannot be said for the bane of our existence - crime and corruption, both of the material and moral kind.
Together they amount to a national shame that is not so easily dismissed.
In the same breath, we are not the only country in the world forced to deal with these.
It may be more sophisticated over there, but it’s not a foreign concept to Americans and Europeans.
Yes, it would’ve been lovely if our leaders were able to maintain the moral momentum we gathered in 1994, but ultimately they are human beings intoxicated by power and easily tempted by quick riches.
It doesn’t mean that we should excuse it completely, but it does give context to the global political arena and makes us feel less alone.
Now that political campaigning is officially over, we are left to weigh up the promises that came in thick and fast over the last few months to decide who will get our precious votes on Wednesday.
Someone told me that I should treat my vote like it’s the only one that matters; the one vote that will swing the balance of power.
And I get the feeling that South Africans are finally beginning to understand the critical importance and the gravity of this task.
We are collectively appointing the executive team that will be managing our lives for the next five years.
Do you want career politicians, people who reflect your own values and principles, or do you want leaders who are smarter than you, with a track record of wanting to serve the people?
I would argue that a healthy combination of the above would be ideal.
People who could very easily be doing something else successfully, but who choose to be public servants instead.
People whose lives are directly affected by the absence of service delivery and bad governance and who are guided by their conscience.
This may be asking for too much, but we should at least have a fantasy to aim for, so that we know what characteristics to look out for.
Let me conclude by telling you a quick little story.
I connected with an old friend recently. He is an event organiser based in Joburg and was involved in the free JazzFest concert a few weeks ago.
I asked him how business is going up there and how his family has adjusted to the city that I once called home for ten years.
He proceeded to tell me that his kids had given up and had decided to return to Cape Town.
From a business point of view, he explained that in Joburg, service providers charge the government an arm and a leg for their services, compared to Cape Town.
And then he went on to tell me that there are no major public entertainment events in Joburg anymore.
While enjoying the lovely weather in the relative safety of Greenmarket Square, he went on to say that something like the free concert could never happen in Joburg, adding that Capetonians don’t know how lucky they are.
It’s not the first time I hear this sentiment and while it makes me proud to live here, it also makes me very sad for the rest of the country.
I have seen people on social media comparing Cape Town to a foreign place.
I got into a friendly chat with a first-time visitor from Pretoria and he couldn’t stop raving about how clean, safe and peaceful Cape Town is.
Now as a Capetonian, that is a laughable statement, because we know that isn’t entirely true for all of us all of the time.
But compared to what our fellow South Africans are experiencing on a daily basis, domestic tourists consider us to be living in a state of municipal bliss.
And when you visit other provinces and see for yourself, then you understand why they are so impressed by the Mother City, because a comparative eye is a critical one.
And that is really what I want to leave you with.
We often get so caught up in what we don’t have, that we fail to see the things that we do have that others can only wish for.
And that is not to say a better government. But rather an opposition that is determined to stay in power by outperforming their contenders.