Questions for reflection

The 2024 election (probably  to be held in May) will be the country’s most important election since 1994.

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In 1994 close to 20 million South Africans stood in patient, joyful queues for several days to choose their new government.  The April election followed several years of both violence and negotiation:  hope and fear.  Those  20 million citizens were voting in an election which by agreement with the contending political parties was going to elect a government of national unity.   According to our interim constitution every party getting 5% of the vote would have a seat in parliament and each party gaining 20% would have a Deputy President.

 

Beyond these rules people queued together and voted together for a South Africa that would work together to create a better future for all.  This was the promise of the rainbow nation.

 

What can Christians do to make 2024 our “second chance” election?  To recapture the hope of unity, shared freedom and shared destiny? Of people served by a government whose only purpose was to make a better life for all? To consolidate a national compact of non racialism, constitutional democracy, clean government and a growing and increasingly inclusive economy ?

 

What if individual Christians and most particularly groups of Christians took it upon themselves to get involved in recognising, embracing and supporting the people and institutions of  our public service? Government at national, provincial and local level  whose job it is to provide order and development.   Politicians and political parties whose job it is to direct government.  Could we, the  citizens take centre stage in the 2024 elections  in a spirit of joy and hope and not with cynicism, contempt, rage and despair?

 

Could the attitude of citizens in general and Christian citizens in particular centrally determine the success of this election?

 

Our first duty to Caesar is to register to vote.   Our citizenship cannot be complete until it is reflected on the country’s voter’s roll.   This is very easy to do.  Registering online is as easy as registering for a covid vaccination.   Every election since 1994 has seen a declining proportion of our adult population registering to vote.   Can Christians be different?   This is more than an individual act.   Are our worship, family, workplace and friendship communities also registered?

 

Our second duty is to do the hard work now of using our vote intentionally and faithfully.   We cannot vote for a party by default: simply because we always have, or our parents have, or because of our skin colour, or our social and financial “place” in our broader society.

 

Our faith has always connected power to justice.   Both the Old and New Testaments command prophets and priest, disciples and apostles in their exercise of power.  This is part of our religious tradition and covenant. What covenant will we impose on those who receive our vote?

 

This difficult job of choosing for our faith, and not for what Richard Rohr calls our shadow self, is best exercised collectively.   Can we use this coming Advent, this next Lent, these weeks and months of house churches and bible studies to discuss together who we believe will govern our country in a Godly way? 

 

It now seems likely that no party will be the outright winner of the 2024 election.   We may be returning to diversity in government.  As we consider our own reasons for supporting a particular party we will need to consider whether that party is ready to work with others.  

If the entire election period has consisted of inflammatory and belittling speech, with each party demonising the other, this will be very difficult indeed, as we have seen in recent municipal elections.   Can Christians help shape the character of this election from today until voting day?

 

Can we start up conversations, now, across the whole political spectrum? Can we step out of our own comfort zones, envisage previously unthinkable alliances, and demand that politicians  tell us where they agree with one another and not only where they differ; how they plan to work together, and not only how they condemn and even plan to annihilate one another?

 

For Christians, the challenge is to see political parties, all of them, as our neighbour. To recognise the image of God in all politicians.

 

We need to create, and encourage a tone of politics  that will make co-operation between politicians and their parties possible, after the election. We need to demand, and create space for, political rhetoric now,  that will not enflame violence or allow politicians to hide behind demonisation of their opponents. 

 

The core purpose of politics in 2024 is no different to what it was in 1994.   We need  a  non racial country, governed by a constitutional democracy, with a society and an economy that has a place for all.  Those who ask us to lend them our votes need to tell us what programmes will they introduce, based on these values? Do they have concrete plans to address the most burning issues facing South Africans such as economic opportunity, power, water, functioning cities, and clean government? What are the timelines for these plans?

 

Democracy is hard work.   For people of faith the work always involves as much interest in what is done with power as in who wields it.  This is the history of Israel.  Of the first Christian churches.  And of every community of believers ever since.   

 

Can South African Christians rise to the challenge of not merely renewing but indeed making the exercise of power in our country much better than it ever was?

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