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 see there was a coup d’etat in Mauritius. Wonder where that leaves the NPA request for the diary that shows Mr. Jacob Zuma met with arms dealers who allegedly paid him a bribe? Mr. Zuma’s appeal on that matter is still pending in the Mauritius courts. If I was a conspiracy theorist – which I am not – I would wonder about the timing of this coup and whether it has anything to do with a plot against the NPA!
UPDATE: Eish! I am obviously so obsessed with the Zuma matter that in my haste between appointments I read Mauritius for Mauritania! So no plot against the NPA then.
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