[Marxism] Opinions cast as facts on South Africa's elections

["DoC" <donaloc@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Phil Ferguson posted this from John Minto:

20.04.2004 - COMMENT NZ Herald

The African National Congress has coasted to an easy victory in the
South African elections. More significant than its two-thirds of the
vote, however, was the greatly reduced voter turnout.

>From more than 90 per cent in the first post-apartheid election in 1994,
voter turnout dropped to about 70 per cent in 1999 and is predicted to
be just over 50 per cent this time.

This reflects soaring mistrust in the ANC among black voters in South
Africa's poorest communities. The ANC victory, for those who voted,
merely reflects the lack of a credible national alternative.


The BBC (organ of the British State) reviewed the election results thus:

.. And perhaps most importantly, the turn-out appears to have been
quite high. There were fears of voter apathy in the run-up to the poll.
Election officials are now estimating that the turn-out was about 75%.
Granted, that is down on the exceptional turn-outs of 1994 and 1999. And
it is also true that several million eligible voters did not even bother
to register. But watching the long queues forming at dawn in Soweto was,
for many of us, a humbling experience. "We have to vote," one unemployed
man told me, "it will make our lives better." Ten years after
liberation, the vast majority of South Africans are still prepared to
put their faith in democracy.

for full...http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3629953.stm

_______________________________________________
Marxism mailing list
Marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism