Vote to overturn bucket system

I STRUGGLED to contain my growing rage as I read the article in The Herald this morning about the bucket system – again.

Residents were complaining that for the past three weeks officials had not come to empty the buckets and that the waste was now so bad that people were being forced to dig holes in their gardens in which to empty the excrement.

It is mind-boggling to think that in 2013, almost 20 years into this wonderful democracy that the ANC keeps raving on about having won for South Africans, that we can have thousands and thousands of people still living in very inhumane circumstances.

The same people, election after election, put their faith in a party that they hope will this time around help them change their lives for the better. Each time they are left disappointed.

How is it that the leaders of the governing party can boast about 100 years of selfless struggle, drink expensive champagne and cut and eat cake, yet not give two hoots about its own supporters, who have to endure such terrible and inhumane conditions day in and day out?

In fact, I would even go so far as to say this is unconstitutional. The Constitution enshrines the rights and dignity of all South Africans. By maintaining the bucket system, the government is actually acting unconstitutionally and, therefore, illegally.

One resident even questioned the use of this so-called new democratic freedom.

The more I read and hear of stories like this, the more I’m becoming intently aware that the ANC is the party of the past. The new crop of ANC leaders (if we can even call them that) are completely incapable of bettering the lives of anyone other than themselves and their closest friends. They have become a closed gang of insiders whose only aim is to enrich themselves and to hell with the rest of the country.

If things are allowed to continue as they are, we are heading towards a dark and dangerous end.

The power remains in the hands of the voters and I’d like to challenge you to vote for leaders who can and will put the wellbeing of others first, before their own. The DA is such a party and has leaders exactly like this. The DA is the most diverse party in South Africa, with a great track record of service delivery for ALL South Africans.

The truth is, only when the electorate send a clear message that they are no longer willing to be trodden upon by the ANC demagogues and vote for the DA, will anything change. The DA alone is able and willing to restore dignity to a people who’ve been tossed aside by their liberators.

The DA alone is able to deliver freedom you can use by effectively and efficiently delivering basic services and housing to the poorest of the poor – the very people who need to be cared for the most and the very people who the ANC has seen fit to ignore as nothing more than a nuisance.

I urge all voters to consider this during the next two elections. Things will only change through the ballot box, not violent service delivery protests.

I have a dream where ALL South Africans have access to running water and electricity; ALL live in decent houses ALL are educated ALL have decent, sustainable jobs

ALL understand ALL their rights, freedoms and responsibilities

ALL leaders work for the good of ALL the people

ALL go to bed at night without fear of being robbed, raped or murdered

ALL our children can grow up in an open and equal opportunity society ALL have a hope and a future. Only then will the Rainbow Nation realise ALL of its potential.

Grant Abbott, Charlo, Port Elizabeth