The South African State faces a crisis of legitimacy.
On Wednesday the 8 th of May 2019, voters turned out to participate in the 6 th National elections since the end of the Apartheid State in 1994. Over the course of the days that followed, the media devoted extensive resources, airtime and space to covering and commenting on the historic process. The headlines that marked the period referred mainly to the extent of the growth or the decline of various parties to attain a percentage of the vote and the main debate was whether the ANC as the governing party would be able to retain its 60% support among voters. Some media and commentators did make mention of the low voter turnout, but none bothered to provide a contextual analysis of what low voter turnouts may mean for our young democracy. This is surprising and eminently deeply concerning that the entire media establishment, committed as they are to maintaining the status quo, or at least ensuring the ascension of Cyril Ramaphosa and his faction, to the helm of the...