Mayoral Staffer Galvam Discusses Birth of South African Democracy

South Africans had to learn a lot before becoming a full-fledged democracy--including how to vote, a member of the mayor's staff told an audience of about 40 Wednesday at the Institute of Politics.

Dennis Galvam, who works on Boston Mayor Tom Menino's staff, showed and discussed a video on voting that was shown in South Africa.

Galvam said he was in South Africa teaching about democracy for nine months in 1992 and 1993, and the 15-minute film was part of his efforts.

In the film, several South African celebrities urge citizens to vote, continually reinforcing the theme that every vote makes a difference.

The celebrities include Nobel Peace Prize winner and former Harvard Overseer Desmond Tutu, as well as a famous boxer and a star singer. None of the luminaries endorse a political party in the film.

Several citizens appear on the video to discuss politics and voting.

The video also provides a detailed description of a typical voting booth. The announcer emphasizes that the government will make no attempt to try to influence the vote.

The voting room "is quite inside because no one has a right to tell you who to vote for," the announcer tells citizens.

The video also assures voters that precautions will be taken to ensure that the ballots would be kept a secret.

To do this, it provides a step-by-step description of how to go about voting.

South Africa had its first democratic elections last year after decades of apartheid in which whites and Blacks were not equal in the eyes of the law.

In a brief speech after the film, Galvam discussed some of the problems and challenges he encountered when making the video.

Most of the celebrities--about 90 percent ofthose asked, according to Galvam--agreed to befilmed.

But regular citizens were slightly morereluctant to appear on camera, he said.

"Some people did not want to be on the camera,for fear of being identified and killed," Galvamsaid.

The politics of some other South Africans werejust too vehement. "Some people had rather strongopinions, which is good for a discussion but notfor a video," he said.

Other people, Galvam said, were more out oftouch with recent changes.

In response to question about how the video wasreceived by the citizens, Galvam said it generallyreceived a positive response.

But he also said some people criticized thevideo for being "too urban" and not focusing oncitizens on farms and in suburbs.

And video even stirred fear in some citizens.

One segment of the video shows a voter checkinga box in a booth the announcer describes asprivate.

Galvam said a frequent response to that scenewas "What do you mean? You told me my vote wassecret."

"People do get scared--they fear for theirlives," Galvam said

Most of the celebrities--about 90 percent ofthose asked, according to Galvam--agreed to befilmed.

But regular citizens were slightly morereluctant to appear on camera, he said.

"Some people did not want to be on the camera,for fear of being identified and killed," Galvamsaid.

The politics of some other South Africans werejust too vehement. "Some people had rather strongopinions, which is good for a discussion but notfor a video," he said.

Other people, Galvam said, were more out oftouch with recent changes.

In response to question about how the video wasreceived by the citizens, Galvam said it generallyreceived a positive response.

But he also said some people criticized thevideo for being "too urban" and not focusing oncitizens on farms and in suburbs.

And video even stirred fear in some citizens.

One segment of the video shows a voter checkinga box in a booth the announcer describes asprivate.

Galvam said a frequent response to that scenewas "What do you mean? You told me my vote wassecret."

"People do get scared--they fear for theirlives," Galvam said