ELECTIONS in SOUTH AFRICA
Volatile
Elections in Africa are always volatile and frequently violent. Intimidation is rife. Disinformation is the order of the day in most of the state-controlled media.
Violent
Although there was an extraordinary amount of arson attacks, riots, wild fires and destruction of property in the run up to the elections, on the day there were few violent incidents. At least compared to the weeks before. Numerous people claimed that they were prevented from voting by political mobs, but most braved the rain and stood in the long-winding ques.
Self Promotion by Independent Electoral Commission
The so-called Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), likes to blow its own trumpet and always issue press reports praising their conduct. Even while acknowledging that there were “irregularities” and “misconduct”, the IEC declared its own performance was “positive”, even though they acknowledged that there were “delays” and “shortages” that plagued Election Day.
Delays
All election stations were meant to be open at 7am. The IEC proudly announced that “most” voting stations were open by 11am and by 11:30 only 17 voting stations had not yet opened! They acknowledged that by 5pm “only” 5 voting stations had not yet opened.
Power Failures and Rain Curtail Voting
There were power failures at numerous voting stations. Power failures affected voting stations in uMlazi, KwaZulu Natal, Vuwani and Giyani in Limpopo and parts of Johannesburg. 30 voting stations in the Nelson Mandela Bay and Cradock area in the Eastern Cape were affected by heavy rains and winds. 16 temporary voting stations in Mangaung were blown over in strong winds.
Shortages of Ballot Papers
There were numerous complaints in the Western Cape, of voting stations running out of Provincial voting forms. The DA’s Federal Executive, James Selfe, claimed that “an entire ward” ran out of ballot papers on Wednesday.
Indelible Ink Disappears
Many voting stations reported running out of ink, which was to mark voters on the left thumb to ensure that they did not vote a second time on the same day. In many cases this ink came off easily.
Violations of Electoral Rules
There were also numerous reports of electoral rules violated, such as people dressed in ANC attire inside the voting stations. When we drew this to the attention of IEC officials, they informed us that only “the presiding officer” could deal with that. Then then informed us that the presiding officer was not around!
SA Voters’ Guide
In the run up to the Elections, Africa Christian Action was heavily involved in voter education, especially through the Biblical Issues Voters’ Guide and www.SAVotersGuide.org.
Biblical Voter Education
I also wrote: Voters’ Guide to Biblical Issues; God, Government and the Ten Commandments; Biblical Principles for Using Your Vote; Why No Christian Should Support BBBEE Affirmative Action Racism; Farms and Freedom Under Fire in South Africa; Fraud, Failure and Farce – Land Expropriation Hearings; Is South Africa Entering the Second Phase of the Revolution?; National Repentance; Buses, Trains and Police Stations Burn and Trillions of Reasons Why I Will Not Vote for the ANC. Taryn wrote: Why Most Youth Did Not Vote in the Last Election and How We Can Change that in 2019.
Websites
There were many voter education materials and video links placed on Africa Christian Action Facebook page and on www.hmsschoolofchristianjournalism.org and www.christianaction.org websites.
Election Sermon
We also put out: Think Before You Ink!And my election sermon from Isaiah 59: Your Iniquities Have Separated You From Your God, which you can also listen to on our Sermon Audio page, here. We had numerous radio and TV interviews on Biblical Principles for voting.
PowerPoints
To educate congregations, I produced and uploaded Biblical Principles for the Elections and Biblical Principles Which God Would Bless in Any Country PowerPoints on www.Slideshare.com.
Leaflets, Posters, Billboards and Newspapers
We printed and distributed over 10,000 Biblical Issues Voters’ Guides, including on the streets, at traffic lights and in townships. Others published our Biblical Issues Voters’ Guidein the Daily Sun newspaper, in JOY! Magazine, JOY! Digital and on billboards in the Transvaal. Others made posters of the Voters’ Guide and placed them on lampposts.
Books and AV for Leadership Training
There was increased demand for many of our relevant materials for voter education, including Biblical Principles for Africa (also available in Afrikaans); The Ten Commandments – God's Perfect Law of Liberty (also available in Afrikaans); The Rise of the GayGB and the Pink Inquisition; Porndemic and South Africa for Christ MP3 Audio Boxset. Our video: Biblical Principles for Political Elections was also widely shared from our Vimeo page.
Confusing Socialism with Free Enterprise
The responses which we received to the Voters’ Guide indicate that many Christians are still confused as to what constitutes a Free Market economy and what qualifies as socialism. Many well-meaning Christians advocate socialist economic policies, evidently unaware of the Bible’s teaching forbidding this as well as the catastrophic track record of socialism in ruining economies worldwide.
Character Assassins
What was also disturbing, was to see how many failed to evaluate the positions of parties on Biblical issues, but rather chose to engage in character assassination against individuals representing parties that they had problems with. As Socrates declared: “Slander is the tool of the loser.” Margaret Thatcher would quote this in Parliament when she thanked opponents for resorting to character assassination against her, thus proving that they had lost the argument. As in sport, you play the ball, not the man. Ad hominin arguments do not prove one’s case.
Making Disciples – Teaching Obedience
Through the various radio, TV, internet and literature distributions, we praise God that Africa Christian Action was able to play a role in educating hundreds-of-thousands of South Africans on Biblical Principles for God and government. “Who will rise up for Me against the evildoers? Who will stand up for Me against the workers of iniquity?” Psalm 94:16
Dr. Peter Hammond
Africa Christian Action
PO Box 23632
Claremont 7735
Cape Town South Africa
Tel: 021-689 4480
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Web: www.christianaction.org.za
See also:
When All Men Speak Well of You
The Battle for the Mind in the News Media
How Propaganda Changes People and Perceptions
Back to the Bible Conference – 24 May