One of the most poignant moments of South Africa’s first all-race elections on April 27, 1994 came when Archbishop Desmond Tutu, one of the towering figures of the African National Congress (ANC) who helped bring an end to apartheid, cast his ballot.

A man known for his infectious laughter, Archbishop Tutu, with a broad bright smile on his face, said out loud: “I voted!” He then giggled and kept repeating, “Free at last, we’re free at last!”

A day later he was reported to have said of the voting process: “It is an incredible feeling, like falling in love.”

Those elections marked the end of a long and unrelenting struggle within and outside South Africa against Apartheid, the system of racial segregation and discrimination institutionalised in South Africa and South West Africa from 1948 until the early 1990s and culminating in the historic elections which saw black South Africans voting for the first time.

For three days black South Africans stood for hours in long lines, some stretching over a kilometre, to exercise their franchise — a right they had been denied all their lives.

Their appreciation of that right was also evident in the reaction of the iconic Mr Nelson Mandela, who, after casting his vote, said: “Today is a day like no other before it… Today marks the dawn of our freedom.

“Years of imprisonment could not stamp out our determination to be free. Years of intimidation and violence could not stop us, and we will not be stopped now,” added Mr Mandela, the ANC leader who, after spending 27 years in prison for his opposition to Apartheid, became the country’s first black president at age 75.

Our reflection on that moment is spawned by the obvious apathy among Jamaicans for participation in the voting process. The problem has been with us for some time and came to the fore again last Wednesday when we went to the polls in our 19th parliamentary election since universal adult suffrage in 1944.

A voter turnout of 39.5 per cent is cause for serious concern. No self-respecting democracy should accept that as normal.

Since the election there have been reports that the voters’ list needs updating, as it may contain the names of individuals who are deceased. That, therefore, has given a false sense of the number of eligible voters which, the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) has reported, stands at just under 2.1 million people.

Mr Orrette Fisher, the former director of elections, is reported by The Gleaner on Friday last as saying that the actual number of eligible voters is probably closer to 1.5 million. We can only determine the accuracy of his assessment if, as he rightly suggested, the voters’ list is updated.

That should be on the EOJ’s evaluation list as it reviews the September 3 election. So, too, other issues that contributed to slowing the voting process.

Also, we cannot close our eyes to the widespread indifference to politics and governance, especially among younger
Jamaicans.

Much is required to correct the situation. And while we embrace the education ministry’s reintroduction of civics to the school curriculum in 2023, we believe that political education needs to be expanded throughout the wider society.

Let us explore the possibility of a structured programme of political education spawned from collaboration between the State, political parties, community organisations, academia, et al, spread across the country, encouraging civic engagement, especially among the young.

Leaders who listen to the populace, share their experiences, and implement policies based on active engagement with citizens are usually those who are successful.

Achieving this ideal will not be easy, but no effort is too great to preserve and protect our democracy.