Editorial

Dear readers,

The fourth general election in South Africa’s relatively youthful democracy was completed on Wednesday 22 April. For the first time since 1994, South African ex-pats where given the chance to vote on the 15th and all over the world, stations were opened and democracy was served. On the home front, a record number of voters took to the polls and, for the first time, actively created an opposition party to the all powerful ANC.

For me, the tenacity of South African voters was displayed at the Home Affairs office in Randburg on Tuesday 21 April, when hundreds of people stood beside me in the queue for interminable hours to ensure they would have the chance to vote the following day. Some had lost their ID books through carelessness, others had lost theirs through non-violent and sometimes violent crimes. There were stories of ID books that did not last the machine wash cycle, or, unfortunately, stayed on the wrong side of the ocean when their owners flew back to vote.

Whatever the reasons, they were there, they were prepared to wait and they would do it with the charismatic flair intrinsic to South Africans. Some

entrepreneurs took the opportunity to serve hot chocolate up and down the lines and there was the unified feeling of people coming together and taking an active interest in the country. I stood in that queue for 5 hours and not one person near me gave up and left. They stood and they fought for their chance to vote. The same way they are prepared to stand and fight for their country.

I don’t know what the next five years holds for South Africa, but as long as we have comrades willing to wait in endless queues with blessed patience for their chance to have their democratic say, I reckon we will be ok.

Thanks for voting guys!

The Roots Republic Team