Vote with your memory, not anger as elections approach
· Citizen
On 4 November, we queue again for local government elections. Potholes. Water cuts. Power outages. Billing nightmares. Leaking sewers.
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South African politics is never boring. It is a masterclass in accidental honesty, those moments when the mask slips and politicians reveal exactly how they see the people they govern.
When you step into the voting booth, remember this phrase: “I went to a hotel to bath.”
As Gauteng residents queued for water, carrying buckets through Soshanguve and pushing wheelbarrows in Sharpeville, premier Panyaza Lesufi was asked what he does when his area runs dry. He said he books into a hotel to bath.
He thought he was being honest. He was. That was the problem.
Marie Antoinette probably never said: “Let them eat cake.” Historians believe the quote was invented by her enemies. Lesufi, however, delivered his version on camera. Let them book hotels.
The issue is not that a premier can afford a hotel. The issue is that he thought the answer was relatable. A family surviving on a few thousand rand a month cannot spend over R1 000 for a night away just to bath. Water may not be a provincial responsibility, as his defenders point out, but empathy is.
Then there is Joburg mayor Dada Morero’s memorable response to a frustrated resident. During a walkabout, a resident angry about roads and water shortages called Morero a thief. His response, caught on camera: “O bua masepa (You are talking nonsense).”
A ratepayer accuses you of corruption and your answer is profanity? Not facts. Not spending reports. Not explanations. Just insults.
If someone accuses you of stealing, prove them wrong with evidence. The clip was more than a gaffe, it reflected a mindset. Criticism is not answered. It is dismissed. The most revealing gaffes are often accidental truths.
President Cyril Ramaphosa, while campaigning, acknowledged that some DA-run municipalities are efficiently managed and well governed. It sounded like a throwaway remark.
For years, ANC campaigners have warned voters that the DA cannot govern. Then the ANC president publicly admits that some DA municipalities perform well. Whether intended or not, the comment landed because voters recognised it as a moment of candour.
Ahead of next month’s local government elections, the ANC had failed to register 181 candidates in the Eastern Cape, Free State and KwaZulu-Natal. In politics, that is the equivalent of failing to pitch for your own interview.
The explanations ranged from administrative failures to system problems.
The Constitutional Court saved the party. Yesterday, it ruled the ANC should be allowed to appear on the ballot in the six municipalities where its candidates list submission was disputed.
Then came Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina. During a visit to Loerie in the Eastern Cape, a disabled resident confronted her. Video footage appeared to show the minister responding with profanity. The backlash was immediate. Apologies followed days later.
Notice the pattern. Faced with criticism about water, the response was not about water. It was about the critic.
“Let them eat cake” was never about cake. It was about a ruling class that could no longer imagine other people’s hardship. South Africans do not have to imagine hardship. We live it.
The tanker queues. The power outages. The system offline. The impossible municipal bill.
So, on 4 November, do not vote angry. Vote with receipts. Remember who checked into a hotel while others queued for water.
Remember who swore at residents instead of answering them. Remember who admitted the opposition governs better.
Who said politics is boring?