By Mokgatlhe
It is disappointing to me that I won’t be able to execute my national duty to vote for my desired government on May 29.
For the first time since I was eligible to vote in the 2009 general elections, the ANC government will make it impossible for South African citizens in Israel to cast their vote to bring about much-needed change in the government.
Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) officials told me a week ago that I should go to other missions outside Israel to vote. However, I can’t travel outside Israel for various reasons.
The illogical decision to shut South Africa’s embassy in Tel Aviv is starting to impact negatively on South African citizens studying or working in or touring Israel. I could not reach out to anyone at the IEC when the online registration was giving me problems.
Although I am pleased that I finally did manage to register to vote, it worries me that without an embassy, South Africans in Israel might be prevented from taking part in the upcoming elections.
The IEC and the SA government are duty-bound to ensure that all South African citizens in the diaspora can participate in the upcoming extraordinary elections, which will mark the 30th anniversary of the first historic and inclusive elections in 1994 when a charismatic statesman, Nelson Mandela, led the ANC to its outright victory.
I am writing this column from Israel where I’ll be based during the important elections. I want to help escort the ANC out of our Union Buildings. Just as people lined up in long queues to vote for the ANC in 1994, in Israel I want to do the opposite – add my name to those voting to uproot the ineptitudes and delinquents from public office.
Following a resolution taken by the ANC at its elective conference in 2017, the SA government decided to downgrade its embassy in Tel Aviv. It has since moved from a downgrade to an entire shutdown of the office. Paradoxically, while the embassy is closed, there remain some cultural and economic ties between the two countries.
I am a student at one of the Israeli universities where I was awarded a prestigious scholarship. This scholarship makes it possible to send between $200 (R3 700) and $250 to my family back in South Africa. Do we know the importance of remittances?
For those who do not have an idea, remittances (money earned from foreign countries and sent to another country) are essential for every economy as it is a critical source of external finance for South Africa. The money plays a meaningful role in combating hunger and poverty, especially in African countries. I am an active economic player, not a burden like many who are dependent on the state for their daily survival.
Most African embassies are operating their embassies to help their citizens with regard to any issue that may arise while in Israel. As my country decided to pack its bags and leave us in the cold, it gets lonely when my colleagues from other African countries visit their embassies in Tel Aviv while I cannot visit mine. What I normally do is join them and learn about the cultural, social and political aspects of other countries because I cannot simply keep on complaining about the ANC’s hostility against Israel.
We are South Africans who went to various countries to look for greener pastures while retaining our full South African citizenship. It was through all the concerted efforts of our forefathers that we achieved suffrage.
A right to vote is a prerequisite of any democracy; we have a right to have a say on who should preside over our polity. It is therefore the responsibility of our government to work together with the IEC to ensure that we become part of the decision-making process.
The ANC’s dislike of Israel has led the government to make the most moronic decisions in the past, such as attacking South African artists like Black Coffee (Nkosinathi Maphumulo) who had been booked to play in Israel, while “ordering” Miss SA Lalela Mswane not to participate in the Beauty Pageant in Israel in 2021. Orlando Pirates were told they could not play with an Israeli soccer team last year. David Teeger recently lost his captaincy in the South African Cricket Under-19 side for expressing, as a loyal Jew, his support for Israel.
It is important to stress the importance of voting to all South Africans in the country and all those in the diaspora as it remains the only tool available for people like me and them. We have to come to understand that there is no politician or political party that wields power as of right; it is we, the voters, who decide to whom to give the power.
We have to elect competent, ethical and incorruptible political leadership into public office. For all South Africans in the diaspora, especially in conflict-ridden areas like Israel, Sudan and Ukraine, it should be made possible for everyone to participate in this upcoming historic election. There is a need for all citizens to participate in spearheading political change in our country.
Mokgatlhe is a political writer and researcher at Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel.