The ACDP's poster hypocrisy

Photo credit: Facebook/ACDP

It’s not often that I get annoyed at election posters. I find them mostly boring in a same-old-same-old way.  Every now and then one would make me laugh – like in the case of the Good Party’s “Auntie Pat is ready to klap it”.  

Yesterday, however, I drove through the leafy suburbs of Bishopscourt in Cape Town when I spotted ACDP posters for the first time.

“No to medical tyranny” read the first one. “Yes, to bodily integrity” shouted the second, and then came “Freedom of choice.”

I have to confess I swore… a few times.

Of course, this is an opportunistic attempt by the ACDP to leverage votes from those who oppose COVID vaccines.

I have been avoiding engagements with anti-vaxxers even though I’m fast losing patience with their nonsensical arguments. However, it becomes a totally different ball game when a political party makes it part of their official policy or election campaign platform.

By supporting anti-vaccine sentiments and arguments, the ACDP is recklessly putting individuals’ lives at risk, and let’s be clear: not only those who decide not to get vaccinated but all of those whom they infect. I have had a number of vulnerable close friends who have been infected by anti-vaxxers and nearly paid with their lives for it. (Without exception the only reason they survived was because they had already had one vaccination). 

Which raises the question: how dare a party that does not care about people dying ask for our vote?  

The ACDP is also deliberately supporting practices that will result in a number of new infection waves, which could result in renewed pressure on health care workers. Not only is it unforgiveable to deliberately place these workers once more under the inhuman pressure they have had to deal with for the last 18 months – but it is important to note that almost 400 have paid with their lives already, because of caring for those of us who got sick. 

Caring is what they do, but as has been proven over and over again that COVID has now become the pandemic of the unvaccinated – something the ACDP seems to be quite happy to support.

Which raises the next question: how dare a party who does not care for our country’s health care workers ask for our vote, especially given the times we are living in?

Of course, more infection waves would also result in renewed lockdowns, which would in turn mean that our economy (as much as the global economy) will not be able to recover. Thus, more people will be unemployed and homeless and without food. 

Which makes me ask: how dare a party that is deliberately endorsing practices that will further destroy our economy and condemn more people to extreme poverty ask us to trust them to run the country?

Then of course there is their cynical use of the words “freedom of choice”. This- from a party that as recently as 2018 sponsored a private member’s bill in parliament which would have restricted abortion after 13 weeks for social reasons and even in the case of fetal abnormalities to twenty weeks. (The bill was defeated in the National Assembly). This is the same party that is against the state paying for abortions – thus of course condemning poor women to have babies even in the case of rape and incest because they can’t afford a private abortion.

Clearly, despite their posters, the ACDP supports bodily integrity and freedom of choice - except when it comes to women’s reproductive health.

How can one vote for such hypocrisy?

What makes matters worse is of course that they are doing all of this in the name of religion.  

I wish to remind the ACDP what Jesus said (as written in Matthew 25:40): “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers [and sisters of course], you did it to me.” 

Surely, putting people directly in harm’s way, not caring about the medical workers or the poor and specifically women, you can’t claim to be doing what the Bible calls on believers to do. 

Hopefully, true believers will realise the dangerous and anti-biblical sentiments of the ACDP’s campaign and thus not reward them on election day.

They certainly do not deserve our votes.