Universal adult suffrage on a common voters roll is one of the foundational values of our entire constitutional order. The achievement of the franchise has historically been important both for the acquisition of the rights of full and effective citizenship by all South Africans regardless of race, and for the accomplishment of an all-embracing nationhood. The universality of the franchise is important not only for nationhood and democracy. The vote of each and every citizen is a badge of dignity and of personhood. Quite literally, it says that everybody counts. In a country of great disparities of wealth and power it declares that whoever we are, whether rich or poor, exalted or disgraced, we all belong to the same democratic South African nation; that our destinies are intertwined in a single interactive polity.
There has been rumblings amongst some politicians about the “untransformed” Springbok rugby team. I am a firm believer in transformation in sport, but I am an even firmer believer in the firm torso of Bryan Habana and those long legs of JP Pietersen. Having them both on the field makes it worth watching the Springboks. May they both score tries tomorrow!
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