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.
I can’t imagine why anyone would sit at the water waiting for a fish to bite into a fish hook and then reeling in that fish and taking out the hook and then having to slaughter it and clean it before eating it. I prefer my fish with wasabi at the Japanese Restaurant so I do not have to confront the horrors of eating dead animals. So I won’t be off fishing.
I will, however, be on holiday, so I will probably not be updating the blog or if I do, won’t do so regularly for the next while. For all readers of this Blog, enjoy your holidays and whatever you do, give somebody you love a big hug.
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