I trust that everyone had a good vote yesterday, firstly.
I (being a 24-year-old coloured boy) had a very interesting chat with my dad yesterday. I asked him out of curiosity, who he voted for in the 1994 elections. Now with my dad being a coloured male from the Cape Flats suburb called Bishop Lavis, I thought it's a no-brainer that he voted for the ANC because of all of the years of oppression. Much to my absolute surprise, he said, and I quote: "There was always only one party I'd vote for come any elections, and that's the National Party (or NP)."
I was in absolute SHOCK! I could not believe that my dad, a particularly intelligent man who was oppressed and segregated by the NP, would still vote for them in the elections in 1994.
I asked him to please explain that to me. He said the following which amazed me. He said that even though they were segregated and treated like crap, the country worked. The infrastructure worked.
My jaw was on the floor. I couldn't comprehend this rationale at all.
But, I then thought about it and it made a lot of sense, after a while.
As a youngster born in 1987, apartheid didn't affect me as much as much my parents at all. Yes, I went to a former Model-C school when I started school in 1994; incidentally and I was bullied by the white boys every single day of my life simply because I was coloured, but that was about the only thing about apartheid that did affect me.
The point I'm trying to make is I got over it and I decided that I am going to work my arse off. I'm not going to let anyone lay claim that the only reason I am in a particular job is because I'm coloured (and categorised as black).
Everything I've got is because my parents did the best that they could and I took the baton from them and am hell-bent on being the best at everything I do.
I am sick and tired of everything being about race. What is up with that? It's pathetic. White people don't vote ANC because it's a "black party". Blacks don't vote DA because it's a "white party". What happened to voting for a party whose manifesto you agree with most? When will we have a national general election where you wonder who is going to win?
It's so uninspiring when I see how grownups carry on and on about race. What kind of an example are you setting for my generation? Let me tell you, it's a very kak one.
My generation wants people to look up to. Role models. Like Nelson Mandela. I look at the squandering and corruption happening in government and my soul cries and my heart bleeds that a few irresponsible people are messing things up for us.
This culture of entitlement in government trickles down to the youth and what do you have? A generation who wants everything for free.
Newsflash: the government doesn't owe you anything. White people don't owe you anything. Blacks don't owe you anything. You owe it to yourself to get up off your arse and go work for what you want.
If you spent as much time and energy working as you do complaining, you'd be living a way better life.
I haven't been on this earth for very long, but what I do know is if you're waiting for handouts, you're going to wait a long time.
So my advice is stop complaining, stop voting with your heart (hopefully you actually did go vote) and go work as hard as humanly possible so that you can provide a better life for you and your family.
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Disclaimer: All articles and letters published on MyNews24 have been independently written by members of News24's community. The views of users published on News24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of News24. News24 editors also reserve the right to edit or delete any and all comments received.
