2019 brings an opportunity to make a difference

With the final registration opportunity for this year's general elections set for this weekend, election fever 2019 is bound to rise a notch or two.

If you want to make a difference and have a say in electing a ruling party and indirectly the president, members of parliament and provincial leadership also thrown in the mix, then 2019 is your year.

You can become a mover and shaker and get 'er done.

Keep in mind though, that all politics is local, as they say, and if voting is our right and our duty as South African citizens to preserve democracy, it's then equally true that we have an obligation to be of service to our fellow citizens to improve life right here in Graaff-reinet.

With the 2019 election revolving around the choosing of a ruling party and the resultant president, in two years' time, of course, all eyes will again be on the hometown crowd, with the municipal elections in 2021 providing the chance to choose a local council and mayor.

If you're tired of seeing the same old faces in charge and feel like crying about nothing ever changing for the better, the only person who can do something about it is you.

If you care passionately about your and your children’s future and refuse to just drift along while other people call the shots, make sure to add your voice to those of the other citizens of this country and cast your vote this year. Remember that enough individual votes can change the course of history.

If on top of this, you think you have good ideas and can do a better job improving the community than the current leaders, then you have to make it happen.

If public office isn't your thing, then find some candidate who deserves support and work for that person's campaign.

Change for the better doesn't just happen. You have to make it happen.

We have a few more months left before the elections (expected to be held in May) to reflect on where we've been these past few years, and where the new year could be taking us.

Think about your community, what you like, what you don't, and what you would change.

Then seriously consider making those good things come true by getting involved in the community to bring about positive change. It doesn't take genius – just honesty, hard work and guts to create the desire to serve the place you call home.

Nothing changes for the better on its own. You have to make it happen. May 2019 be the year that we all commit to change.