The memories are vivid but Jerry Tlhopane struggles to put into words the feelings he had on April 27 1994, the day his country changed forever. He remembers an “electric” atmosphere and people being so excited they had not slept the previous night.
“It was indescribable. People were just impatient – they just wanted to see themselves in the queue to vote,” he says. “It was amazing. It was our first vote. It was the first time.”
It was the day 20 years ago when South Africa held its first democratic election. The election passed peacefully as huge queues snaked their way to polling booths and voters swept Nelson Mandela and his African National Congress, the liberation movement, to victory. The “Rainbow Nation” defied the naysayers who had predicted bloodshed, and inspired a global audience.
The ANC dominated the polls in the next three elections, too. On May 7 the party aims to extend its 20-year grip on power by highlighting the strides the country has taken to redress the crippling inequalities institutionalised under white rule.
Yet all is not well with the ANC, as it faces a chorus of criticism over corruption and cronyism, set against a backdrop of disgruntlement with the pace of economic development for the black majority. And critically, the anger is increasingly coming from within; from people like Mr Tlhopane, who put themselves in the line of fire during the struggle against apartheid.
The result is the most fiercely contested election of the post-apartheid era. Last month Mr Tlhopane joined a group that included ANC stalwarts Ronnie Kasrils, a former intelligence minister, and Nozizwe Madlala-Rout*ledge, a former deputy health minister, to launch a “Vote No” campaign.
The idea is to encourage people to either vote for smaller parties or spoil their ballots to “wake-up” the ANC. The hope is that a weakened party would be forced to address its shortcomings, “when they feel a little bit of punishment, a little wound, because they are arrogant”, Mr Tlhopane says.
“It’s true, there are good things that have happened since 1994 and it’s true there’s a difference since 1994,” he adds. “But a political party is like an employee – we employed the ANC to do certain things.”
He is not alone. Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, seen by many as South Africa’s moral compass, recently said “don’t be voting cattle”, thinly veiled advice not to vote blindly for the ANC. “Think before you make that cross.”
