In the build up to South Africa's general elections in May, people are pondering the extent to which the ANC will draw its usual crowd of supporters. The party that played the key role in the dismantling of Apartheid has proved a disappointment under the leadership of President Jacob Zuma. A recent poll suggested the ANC would take at least 65% of the votes, which is surprising when you consider that Zuma is developing a reputation for being booed at regularly when he appears in public. Outspoken advertising entrepreneur Chris Brewer says it is obviously stupid to vote for a political party that has failed to deliver on its promises. But, we shouldn't think we are the only stupid voters on earth. Mass stupidity is more common than not, he explains in his latest blog. – JC .By Chris Brewer*.I wasn't going to mention the election because, well, all politicians are morally suspect and I don't believe any of them. So writing about what's going to happen after May 7th is a bit like a weather forecaster saying "tomorrow there will be no change – or the day after that come to think of it.".But there is one aspect of this extravagant and futile exercise which does interest me – and that is how people can be so stupid. And I mean, be stupid all the time. No pause or reflection, just mass stupidity. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid..I mean, if you live in a shack with no running water or sanitation why on earth would you believe that the ANC will give you those things now? They failed over the past 20 years so why now? Are you that gullible? Doesn't it occur to you that the leaders of the ANC are shoveling all the money out of the public purse into their own pockets/houses quicker than you can say "Nkandla?".I speak with some authority about this strange phenomenon because I grew up in a working class town in England called Swindon where everyone voted Labour. It was always an absolute foregone conclusion. The Labour candidate would get about 30,000 votes and all the other parties would get about a dozen votes between them..It was stupid. I grew up chatting to people who knew absolutely nothing about what other parties stood for – and didn't care. Every politician lied and made promises they had no intention of keeping and they got away with it each time because the electorate was stupid and had no intention whatsoever of voting, say, Tory..I remember that, back in the days when I was a student, my friends and I had already concluded that the concept of "one man, one vote" was absolute lunacy. Of course we couldn't agree on what the qualifications should be in order to have the vote either. Should it be based on taxes paid or levels of education or property ownership etc?.So we'd argue about that all evening, drink so much we forgot what we discussed and then do absolutely noting about it. Oh yes, my generation was a proud one. All we wanted was free love, rock 'n roll, welfare and dope..In Swindon's case, after over a hundred years of blindly "voting the way you were told" there was a sudden shift and in 2010 the Conservatives won. You could hear the rumblings of bodies turning in their graves all over Wiltshire. Of course the change probably didn't make one iota of difference – but it's the principle that counts..And perhaps that's what will eventually happen in South Africa? (Although hopefully it won't take a hundred years.) Maybe, just maybe, enough voters will wake up and say "I'm as mad as hell and I'm NOT going to take it anymore!" and vote for a different party..This call to destroy ballot papers is, in my opinion, basically sound. It will tell the ANC that those voters are so unhappy with them that they've sacrificed their votes (that were sadly fought so hard for in the first place) – not that the ANC will give a tinker's cuss because it may not change the percentage of support at all – and that's the key issue..It really needs a much bigger vote for another party..Nothing will really change of course and the ANC will remain in control. But if they were to get only, say, 55% support then what a smack in the mouth would that be? How bloody wonderful!.It's anyone's guess what would happen given that scenario but my instincts tell me that they'd be significantly more careful in the future and that heads would roll – firstly Jacob Zuma and his motley crew and all those others who've plundered the tax payers' money for twenty years would be booted out (may God rot the lot of them)..An additional bonus would be to see all those delayed fraud charges finally being put in place and Zuma having to face justice, in a courtroom, standing in front of a Judge in the same way we all do..Then, maybe, we'll see some of Madiba's original ideals come shining through again and perhaps we'll even see some progress..But that's enough comedy for one day..* Chris Brewer is CEO of Brewers Data Services, which manages on-line database Apps of all advertising agencies, major advertisers and all media in South Africa. His blog, Brewer's Droop, is republished here on Biznews.com with his kind permission..For more by Chris Brewer read:.Bitcoins: Virtual money of the future or just an amazing scam?.Fat and happy: Get used to your flab because diets don't work – experienced SA dieter
