A better vision for South Africa

With just a week to go before South Africans trundle off to school halls, library buildings and other such places to vote in the critical local government elections, it seems like the same old tactic of highlighting the failures of the current dominant political party is once again being used to drum up support by all other parties.

Yes, there are some that are pointing to a track record of good governance and accountable administration, which frankly shouldn't be something to be proud of, it's the basic deliverable of doing the job.

Collecting rubbish successfully and keeping clean water in the taps is expected, not a tantalising promise to dangle in front of citizens.

Sadly what this irritation highlights is that the standards of political party strategy and electioneering messaging in South Africa are at the same level as our national competence in mathematics.

Choosing to benchmark your promised future performance against an accepted backdrop of criminality and corruption is not a suggested way of honouring the intelligence of the electorate.

If this is the universal strategy then these parties are being very poorly advised.

So for the sake of our own sanity, here's a nice bit of insight that's being overlooked that may serve as a useful flint of change for future campaigns.

History shows that South Africans build strong bonds with credible organisations that promise liberation.

Far beyond the daily grind of conducting public administration (the image of which doesn't engage anyone's emotional sweet spot), liberation movements have shown a remarkable ability to deliver futures, that at times, seemed impossible.

What South Africa urgently needs right now...is a new liberation movement.

One that liberates a better vision for South Africa; a better future that we can all believe in. A future that's proud, inclusive, compelling, audacious and motivating.

Our political parties are thinking too small. They're believing in their own narrow classification of what they are expected to deliver.

We're not voting for clean water in pipes today; what's at stake here is 'what kind of city or town can we look forward to in the future?'

Give us reasons to be excited, reasons to invest, an opportunity to contribute ideas...energy.

Better for all doesn't crack it - paint a picture for us, sell us on the vision, get us excited about what could be. But mostly what's missing is any kind of forward-orientated imaginative thinking.

Selling South Africans on a better future will take much more than what is currently being dished up by groups of administrators posing as leaders.