Abnormal Becoming Normal; Decolonizing South African Electorates
Abnormal Becoming Normal; Decolonizing South African Electorates

Summary/Abstract: There is a common electoral sentiment amongst the majority black South Africans that voting for the right [ANC] political party is a vote for total freedom while restraining a return of the proverbial Egyptian experience. The concept of decolonizing the mind is a complex phenomenon. Decolonization is a term used when referring to the undoing of oppression/colonialism, where a nation had established and maintained its domination over dependent territories. Colonialism is therefore a model of imperialism, understood as the domination involving the oppression of one people by another. South Africa had a vibrant liberation organisations championed by the ANC as a means to politically decolonize South African electorates. However, the minds of the people that have hitherto been politically colonized seem to have been moulded by the political elites to accept and propagate the ideas of the liberation organisations. Thus eroding the honour of having a free mind to choose which political idea is the most appropriate. Using public opinion measures to evaluate the relationship between different measures of direct political participation and why the electorates vote for a particular party,this study explains the prevailing existence of politically colonized South Africa society from the standpoint of Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s work; “Decolonizing the mind; the politics of language in African literature.” This study discovered that the ballot from the standpoint of South African electorates does not promote de-colonialism, but rather prevent a return to the old proverbial Egyptian experience by default. Covertly, and by choice; this abnormal situation has made the South African electorates to think that division is more important than their unity. Decolonizing the mind is therefore central to recognizing and striving for unity while aiming for inclusive socio-economic policies that breeds inclusive development.

• Details
• Contents