President Ramaphosa Calls for Unity Ahead of National and Provincial Elections

The President emphasized that since the dawn of democracy, elections have been held “without major incident” and expressed confidence that this year’s elections will also be peaceful and orderly.

President Cyril Ramaphosa, in his weekly newsletter, has called on South Africans to unite for free, fair, and peaceful elections. The National and Provincial Elections are set to take place on Wednesday, with voting stations open from 7 am to 9 pm. Approximately 27 million eligible South Africans are registered to vote.

“Holding free, fair, and peaceful elections is a barometer of the good health of our democracy. As we cast our votes on Wednesday, let us, in the words of our Constitution, 'honour those who suffered for justice and freedom in our land, respect those who have worked to build and develop our country, and believe that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity',” President Ramaphosa said.

“Let us hold another election that is peaceful, free, and fair, and that is a credit to all the elections we have held since 1994. Let it be that the ultimate winner of this election is South Africa, our democracy, and you, the South African people,” he added.

The President emphasized that since the dawn of democracy, elections have been held “without major incident” and expressed confidence that this year’s elections will also be peaceful and orderly.

“Once again, we have every confidence that this election will take place under conditions of peace, safety, and tolerance, and that it will be free and fair. The integrity of our elections is testament to the high regard in which South Africans hold their hard-won right to vote. It is an affirmation that no matter what our political differences are, when it comes to safeguarding our democracy, we are prepared to put these differences aside for the common good,” President Ramaphosa stated.

Reflecting on the past, President Ramaphosa recalled the tense atmosphere on the eve of the first democratic elections in 1994, marked by state-sponsored violence and the threat of a right-wing insurrection. He recounted a newspaper story at the time titled “South Africa hoarding as fear rises,” which described long supermarket queues, a rush to emigration seminars, panicked currency exchanges, and fears of sabotage to power plants and water supplies.

“We recall the courage of the political leadership at the time and their efforts to quell tensions. We recall the role of the leadership of the Inkatha Freedom Party, the African National Congress, and the National Party in signing a memorandum of agreement for reconciliation and peace just three days before the election,” he said.

President Ramaphosa urged South Africans to honor the sacrifices of their forebears by voting peacefully and respecting the rights of others regardless of their political choices. Despite the fears of 1994, none of the anticipated chaos materialized, he noted.

“As South Africans, we have rejected the politics of fear time and again, and we will continue to do so. For the past thirty years, we have chosen the path of peace over violence, of reconciliation over hate, and of unity over divisions of race, ethnicity, or tribe. The stability and integrity of our electoral system bears witness to this,” President Ramaphosa concluded.