South
Africa: Press pride at ‘flawless’ election
By Sun News Publishing
Monday, April 19, 2004
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| •President
Mbeki casting his vote |
| The Sun News
Publishing |
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South African papers are in celebratory mood, not so much
over the overwhelming victory of the African National Congress
(ANC) in the general election, as because the polling was
peaceful and the turnout high. At the same time they are under
no illusion that much remains to be done.
ANC is still the undisputed preferred choice of the people.
As a result, President Thabo Mbeki will retain his position,
for his last lap, as CEO of South Africa Inc...
The next five years provide Mbeki with a unique opportunity
not only to make good the promises he and the ANC made to
millions of South Africans, but also to right the wrongs of
the past five years.
Commentary by Khathu Mamaila and Jovial Rantao in South Africa's
Star
For our young democracy, it does not really matter who people
voted for, but that they came out in their numbers and exercised
their right to vote... South Africans should indeed take a
bow for showing themselves first, and then the world, that
we can hold an almost flawless election without violence.
Now that the elections are over, the hard work must begin...
The millions who voted for the party should now work hard
and demand that what was promised to them must be delivered...
People should not wait for the 2009 election campaign to complain
about the lack of delivery on the 2004 promises.
Commentary by Jovial Rantao in the Star
What would many of those now clamouring for an opposition
party to take over the reins of government do if their wishes
came to pass? Will they start agitating for yet another opposition
party to take over?
Commentary by Boaz "Bowie" Muyutu in the Star
ANC's overwhelming victory suggests a wholehearted endorsement
of its policies... But its failure to win Western Cape or
KwaZulu-Natal on its own mean that effective government in
these two provinces will require new alliances... The election
is over, but the horse trading is about to begin.
Commentary by Tim Cohen and Kevin O'Grady in the Business
Day
The vote seems to have retained the symbolism of freedom it
had in 1994. People seem to understand it not only as a civic
duty but as a form of insurance for a secure future. The memory
of the sacrifices made by so many seems not to have been forgotten.
To vote is to keep alive the memory of a bloody past and express
a hope for a future that is beginning to crystallise... The
ANC must cherish this vote of confidence in it and work even
harder... The next 10 years will probably be the most difficult
South Africa has gone through.
Commentary by Qunta in the Business Day
Unlike many new democracies, we are blessed with voters eager
to have their say in who governs them... South Africans do
not vote simply because they want to influence the outcome.
Many do so because they or their parents were deprived of
this right for most of their lives and so voting is an expression
of their dignity and humanity.
Commentary by Steven Friedman the Business Day
A state with a strong majority party is undemocratic. Yet
the man in the street feels in his bones it cannot be right
to vote for a minority party that stands for the opposite
of what he wants the government to do just to avoid the supposed
evil of a majority party getting too strong, or another minority
party being reduced to undue weakness.
Commentary by Frederick Ehlers in the Business Day
It was a foregone conclusion that the ANC would win the national
election - all that was in question was the margin of victory...
In an ironic twist, as the country celebrates 10 years of
freedom, the NNP (New National Party) - heir of the party
that masterminded apartheid in the country for several decades
- was all but wiped out at the polls.
Commentary by Joseph Aranes in the Cape Argus
The party of apartheid is all but buried... Is this a bad
thing? Without wishing to rub salt in the wounds of the modern-day
Nats [New National Party], we would suggest not. Even in its
most recent manifestations, the party of apartheid continued
to foster racial divides. Its demise is therefore an opportunity
to give new momentum to South Africa's rebirth... Hopefully
opposition parties in the future will resist any temptation
to play the race card again.
Cape Times
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