Today is Election Day here in South Africa, and, unlike in the US, the day is declared a national holiday. Part of being a Peace Corps Volunteer is keeping one's opinions of host country politics to oneself. Thus, in lieu of writing any sort of political analysis (as much as I would love to), I'll leave it to the NY Times, which has an excellent article towards the top of today's edition of the website.
South Africans Vote, Expecting Few Big Changes by Barry Bearak
The author's observations and conclusions are consistent with what I've seen here in my community, but one item he does not note is that the newest contender to the ruling African National Congress (ANC), the Congress of the People (COPE), seems to be drawing votes away principally away from the ANC, not the other major ANC rival, the Democratic Alliance. Granted my sample is rather limited, but those of you watching from the US should take note of whether the entry of COPE into national politics simply reshuffles the pool of non-ANC votes or whether COPE draws its support primarily from former ANC supporters.
That's all I'll say for now, lest I get myself into trouble ;-)
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