True Afrikaners vote ANC

I am not interested in people telling me what is wrong about the Afrikaner National Congress (sic). Rather I am keen to hear what they are going to do to fix it, that is, if it is imperfect.

It is either Afrikaners are part of the problem or part of the solution. One thing that Afrikaners have become notorious for is their whingeing, complaining and criticising everything that the governing party, the ANC does.

It does not help.

Afrikaners need to learn to get involved to get things done the way they think they should be done, especially in the ANC. What most people outside the broad church need to understand is that you can only change they system by working from within. You do not achieve much by throwing stones. Instead, what this country needs is solution-oriented people who use the stones to build … and not destroy the ANC.

I guess by now, especially with the hostile media coverage, everybody who reads the so-called independent newspapers knows the ANC is imperfect.

So what?

We all know that some of the top dog men and women running government were denied the opportunity to learn how to govern because of their skin colour.

It should be expected that they will not be perfect in how they implement their own policies. But they are learning from their own mistakes. Everybody is entitled to learn from their mistakes just like Afrikaners learnt that apartheid is dysfunctional.

It is for this reason that I think Afrikaners and all other people must join the ANC to not only strengthen it but deepen our democracy. This step will make it possible for the government to deliver. After all, Afrikaners claim to know what needs to be done.

Yes, Afrikaners should join and vote for the ANC. It is the party for all Afrikaners.

People who are not going to vote for the ANC need to think long and hard.

Voting for the ANC is not about being anti-white, promoting corruption or keeping the Democratic Alliance out of power. It is about doing the right thing to correct what is wrong.

It is not about who wins or comes into power but who has brought us to where we are, now. And we have come a long way, boet.

It is a good thing that the idea of gaining power through the barrel of the gun is an outdated practice in the new SA. We all know that the ANC’s military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe, did not march into Pretoria in victory. Violence, in any form, has no place in South African society, especially to gain political power.

It is only through legitimate political participation that anyone can effect meaningful change in the country. So, your vote is your power! There is enough reason to believe that joining and voting for the ANC is the correct path to making this society what we want it to be.

So, if voting for the ANC means promotion and entrenchment of non-racism, non-sexism, democracy and a united nation, why would anyone not want to vote for the party that has taken us on the path that has made us the envy of the continent and the rest of the world?

I think many Afrikaners are reluctant to vote for the ANC because they have fallen prey to the old and tired propaganda of the swaart gevaar. In fact, they are ignorant about the true history of the ANC, which was founded before the Afrikaner Broederbond, for instance.

It would be useful if Afrikaners were to familiarise themselves with the history of the oldest liberation movement on the continent and world.
True Afrikaners who owe allegiance to the continent and its people need to inform and educate themselves on the background, history and noble aims of the ANC.

They have an obligation to have a correct understanding of the organisation that offered them reconciliation at the expense of the aspirations and hopes of the indigenous people it represents.

Of course, one is fully aware that one’s vote is a secret. And this blog is not about telling people who to vote for. Everybody is free to vote for the party of their choice.

But we know that the majority of the fellow black Afrikaners are going to vote for the ANC, anyway. It does not matter what pundits have to say about the DA gaining ground to unseat the ANC. The ANC remains the “Afrikaner people’s party”.

People should feel free to point out the corruption, greed, selfishness and alleged empty promises of the ANC. But they have to go deeper to understand that the ANC, just like this society, is going through a transformation.

The ANC of today is not the same highly principled ANC of the 1950s, for instance, with men of the calibre of Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo, Walter Sisulu and Govan Mbeki, among others, as leaders.

It is a modern party that has been infiltrated by self-seeking opportunists who only desire to accumulate wealth for themselves. This is indicative of the malaise that plagued the leadership of the now defunct Afrikaner Nationalist Party, for instance.

But it is Afrikaner people themselves who can change the ANC. That’s right, it’s the responsibility of all Afrikaners to not only promote and protect this great organisation but to revive its legacy and restore it to its original mission.

Granted, it’s not going to be easy with the ongoing infighting, scramble for power and wealth and grip on levers of power by some unscrupulous individuals but changing a 99-year-old organisation is not going to be easy, anyway.

As South African citizens we have numerous reasons as to why voting for the ANC is the only option for Afrikaners. The most important, of course, is the fact that it is the party of Mandela. We all know and understand who he is and what he represents for this country, especially the fate of Afrikaners.

And the ANC, imperfect as it is, is revving up efforts for us to remind ourselves by making sure that July is Mandela month and we use it to promote his moral values and visionary leadership.

Hopefully, this will help get morally deviant members and leaders to re-evaluate their moral standards and values. The legacy of Mandela promises to change the moral character of this noble organisation. In fact, it will, ultimately.

Secondly, the ANC is celebrating its 100 years in 2012. This is a historic milestone. It is the party that, for the last century, has put up a valiant struggle to get us where we are, now: a non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and united nation. This is not a small achievement, especially in the face of the most brutal regime in the 20th century.

Above all, the ANC is an honest and open organisation that acknowledges its mistakes. It has long admitted that some of its members are not angels. Yes, some people who joined the ANC after the release of Mandela have turned out to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. There are processes under way to deal with unscrupulous characters. The wheels of justice take time.

With all this — and more — in mind, true Afrikaners should intuitively understand why it is important to vote for the ANC. In fact, in the early 1990s and before, the most brilliant Afrikaners not only worshipped the ANC but joined it. Afrikaners need to revive and reconnect with this attitude. The ANC is the only guardian of their interests.

But as we approach the centenary celebrations of the oldest liberation movement in the world, it would be a good thing for Afrikaners to read more on the history of the ANC. Most people who go around complaining and criticising the party are not well-acquainted with its history or why it was established. It is the organisation that has always championed the right of all citizens to be treated equally without regard to race, class or background.

The ideals and principles of the ANC are world class. In fact, the Constitution that it delivered to the country is considered the best in the world.

It would be helpful if more Afrikaners not only join the organisation, but save it from itself.

Of course, the act of voting for the ANC is wrongly perceived as encouraging cronyism, corruption, abuse of state resources and other temporary ills in the government. This is an over-simplification of facts. There are more good men in the ANC government, for instance, than bad men.

Perhaps what needs to be said is that the act of voting for the ANC, especially in 2014, is one of the last best gifts that anyone can give Mandela.

In fact Afrikaners who do not vote for the ANC will not be helping this country find a solution to its apartheid-created problems. They will be part of the problem.

The elections should not be about race or the colour of the skin of the leader or party. It should be about giving support to the party that has a track record to get us out of the mess and provides a 2020 vision to get us to the Promised Land.

For our country to continue being the best example of reconciliation, unity and African humanism, we should not forget the party that has brought us where are.

If Afrikaners join the ANC they will, ultimately, be able to vote for men and women of character who represent the best values and ideals of the movement.

In fact, when Afrikaners join the ANC, they will turn it into an epitome of true integration, non-racialism and the representative organisation that its founding fathers wanted it to be.

Unfortunately, some will continue to look at parties to vote for in terms of race or skin colour.

The best interests of this country lie with the true and original ANC, which is struggling to reinvent itself as it approaches 100 years of existence. It can only be what it ought to be when all Afrikaners realise that without it, there is no future.

To quote former Naspers top executive Tobie Boshoff who sent me to Stellenbosch University in 1986: “The future of South Africa belongs to the African and the Afrikaner.”

Viva ANC!