OP-ED: Case against Voter Apathy: Voting is the ultimate expression of power By Lwando Xaso and Zukiswa Pikoli
Apathy is a state of indifference, absence of interest, motivation and passion. Looking back on the profound change we have witnessed in our country, how can these words be associated with our generation? A question occurs to us: are we riding on the coat-tails of previous generations or are we doing enough to actively forge our own legacy?
We remember this so vividly, yet at the time in our young minds this was just “how things were”. Our sickening normality. It had little significance beyond the immediate experience of it all. But the violence continued, prompting a state of emergency. Political organisations like the United Democratic Front were banned, meetings prohibited, curfews imposed, stayaways planned and media censorship was the order of the day. In response to this the ANC rallied its supporters to make apartheid unworkable and the country ungovernable. Ultimately this made for a time of great contrast between brutality and the beginning of the end of apartheid.
As a result of these moments, there was great change in our personal lives. Steve Biko’s words were of particular resonance: “My friendships, my love, my education, my thinking and every other facet of my life have been carved and shaped within the context of separate development.” These changes in our lives were quite remarkable considering how our families still harboured reservations towards white people, yet did not project those feelings on to us because they wanted us to be unencumbered by these sentiments.
It also makes sense that our generation, as a result of what we have seen and the efforts of our elders not to burden us with their distrust of apartheid beneficiaries, should be the most inspired and not apathetic.
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