Spoil your vote?

This is actually what former Deputy Health Minister, Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, says in a TV-interview. Watch it here.

She and a number of other veteran leaders of the ANC are saying:

Sidikiwe! Vukani! Vote no!

It can be translated as

We are fed up! Wake up! Vote no!

As far I understand these leaders (including former Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils) direct there critique both to the ANC and the DA, which is very good. The DA is the main opposition party and has the power in one of the nine provinces.

According to the Mail and Guardian Kasrils points out that there are differences between the mistakes of former presidents Mbeki and Mandela compared to Jacob Zuma. The predecessors were not motivated by personal greed or self-enrichment.

It could have been decisions of political misjudgments, but not greed. It's vastly different

So, literally Madlala-Roultedge encourage voters to spoil their votes. This means to go to the voting station and write

NO

on the ballot paper. Or to vote for a minority party. 

Tomorrow there are only three weeks left …

I still have not made up my mind.

At the same time I sit here with the ballot paper for the election to the European Parliament. My question is: Is it not time to wake up in Europe as well? Time to write:

NO

But still, I think I have a problem, because I agree with some of the journalists, who were present when Kasrils and Madlala-Routledge presented their initiative. One of them was the well-known Alistair Sparks who said that this would not change anything:

All it will do is lower the overall percentage given our proportional representation system. It won't be counted separately and it won't change the percentage of any party.

So, whether South Africa or the European Union, the best thing is probably to make an informed decision and vote for the party that is closest to one’s heart. And then, use other democratic tools between the elections. Democracy is like a flower. You cannot give it water only once every fourth or fifth year.