April is Freedom Month – a month during which we commemorate our long walk to freedom.

This year, we will be commemorating the 30th anniversary of the country’s first democratic elections. We will be honouring the men and women who fought for our freedom and paved the way for a non-racial, non-sexist and democratic nation.

Many of these individuals are unknown and unsung heroes who made incalculable sacrifices for the democracy that we enjoy today. Me and those in my generation, born at the dawn of this democracy in the 1990s, are the first beneficiaries of the immense sacrifices that millions of South Africans made on the long walk to democracy.

Knowing how devastating apartheid was to any South African who wasn’t born with a white skin, and how draconian laws of the former regime set parameters for the generational suffering and disenfranchisement that still defines black life in our country, there can be no doubt that I value democracy. It is for this reason that what I’m about to say must be understood in its fullness as a legitimate concern about the threats to democracy rather than nostalgic sentiment for an amoral past.

At the heart of democracy is universal suffrage – the right of all adult citizens to vote in an election and by so doing, decide the government of the day. This is especially important given SA’s history where for many decades, black people were denied the right to vote.

This was initially on the basis of class, with only black men of franchise having the privilege to do so. Later, it became on the basis of race, with the entire black population denied this basic human right. Universal suffrage was thus one of the key demands in our fight for freedom. Precisely because of the importance of this demand, it is necessary to reflect critically on the dangers that come with the uneducated voter. In this context, uneducated doesn’t mean lacking in formal education or certification, but rather, being ignorant of the very laws that govern our constitutional democracy.

A significant number of South Africans do not know the laws that govern our country. And because they do not know these laws, they make decisions that put our democracy in serious danger. Consider, for example, the ongoing discussion around the eligibility of former president and MK Party leader, Jacob Zuma, to stand for election to the National Assembly.

A week ago, the Electoral Commission of SA, referred to as the IEC, made it clear that Zuma is not eligible to be elected as a member of parliament due to the provisions of section 47 of the constitution which prohibits any citizen from becoming an MP if they have been sentenced to prison for longer than 12 months without the option of a fine. Zuma has a criminal record which stems from a 15-month prison sentence handed to him by the Constitutional Court after a contempt of court conviction in 2021.

He knows that this makes him ineligible for nomination to parliament – but many of his supporters seemingly don’t. The result of this is that some of them are threatening violence if Zuma cannot be sent to parliament – something we know is possible because of the violence that happened in his name following his conviction in 2021. This violence led to the deaths of 354 people, the arrest of almost 6,000 and the damage to infrastructure amounting to billions of rands.

It was the worst violence that the country has experienced since the end of apartheid. The threat of the repeat of this violence is not imagined, it is real. But it is made so by the fact that voters in our country do not know the law and are thus easy prey for people like Zuma, who manipulate them into believing in conspiracies that pose a real threat to democracy.

The  government, private sector and civil society must invest seriously in civic education. Universal suffrage is only half the battle won. The other half of the battle has to do with empowering voters with important knowledge about their rights and responsibilities, as well as the laws that govern the country. Constitutional literacy will go a long way in preventing dangerous characters like Zuma from willfully making a mockery of our democracy and using innocent people as collateral. Voter education must be prioritised in SA – or we will reverse the gains of our freedom and more than this, set parameters for genocide.