GOOD Statement by Brett Herron,
GOOD Secretary-General & Member Western Cape Parliament
23 October 2024
Today’s by-election in George descended into a gangster’s paradise, with people claiming to represent the DA and the PA offering voters tik and food parcels to encourage them to vote for their parties, and threatening to kick down their doors tonight if they voted for anyone else.
Those were just some of the charges listed in sworn affidavits deposed by voters in the ward and handed to the IEC for investigation. (Copies of the affidavits are available on request, redacted to avoid identifying scared deponents.)
A number of well-heeled political parties are guilty of normalizing the distribution of food as bribes in the run-up to elections. If it is OK to hand out food, voters may as well be paid in cash – but neither the IEC nor Department of Home Affairs appears concerned about this trend.
The food parcels distributed to voters today were just the tip of the iceberg.
Ward 20 in George is a working-class area where many people don’t have jobs. According to police, gangsterism and drug abuse are major problems in the neighbourhood.
It is unconscionable that agents of political parties, including the party which leads the Western Cape government, should be offering drugs to residents and threatening to beat them up.
If public representatives are elected by these means, what hope do residents have that the quality of their lives will improve?
The GOOD Party will propose a motion for these matters to be debated in the provincial parliament.
The problem is bigger than the Western Cape, however. South Africa’s electoral processes need urgent review. Parties should not be allowed to pay inducements (or bribes), and the environment in which elections take place, beyond the polling station perimeter, need independent monitoring, and policing.
The present system that relies on political parties to police each other doesn’t work.
It’s one thing for the IEC to comply with regulations on calling elections, managing voting stations and counting votes, but quite another to ensure that elections are free and fair – and not bought or extorted.
Countries in which elections can be bought are known as gangster states. Elections must be contested on the basis of ideas; not who can afford the most cans of pilchards or the biggest pile of tik.
Media Enquiries:
Brett Herron, GOOD: Secretary-General
Cell: 082 5183264
Email: bretth@forgood.org.za
Samantha Jackson, GOOD: Media Manager
Cell: 083 5509875
Email: samantha@forgood.org.za