And, it�s going to be for the same reason it won 70% of the vote in the national elections on 11 April 2004; the reason George Bush got a second term even though he�s started America�s second Vietnam on a lie; and the very same reason why Zimbabweans showed no confidence in Morgan Tsvangirai�s Movement for Democratic Change.

The reason is a strong psychological pull called � � consistency.

Human beings have a strong need to be consistent. A slight that few of us can swallow is to be called inconsistent, flighty and unreliable.

Marketers, sales people, politicians and religious leaders hook us with consistency every time. First, they get us to agree to a small demand (this makes it easier to agree to bigger, more extravagant demands later).

Second, they get us to commit publicly to a cause which makes it extremely difficult to pull out midstream without looking (terror of terrors) inconsistent, flighty and untrustworthy.

I�ve used three real examples that affect us all in South Africa and internationally. I�ve used these examples, not to beat up on anyone, but to show how powerful the concept of consistency is. And to be on guard so that we are not duped into doing things we really don�t want to do. We�re hoodwinked into situations without knowing it. It�s not only in the political arena as per the following examples, but in our friendships, relationships, work, boardrooms, churches, committees and the like.

Why the ANC will win (and by a substantial majority) on 1 March

Unless you�re in a time-warp or the biggest history dunce this side of Blood River, you�ll know that the ANC took power in 1994. In the April 2004 general election it was a three-horse race that was as ill-matched as our cricket team is against Australia at the moment. The ANC won by a landslide 70% of the vote. The Democratic Alliance improved from 9% to 12% (picking up the votes from a defeated NNP) but way short of its 30% prediction. And, the IFP took such a klap in Natal � they�re still reeling from it.

In my opinion, we�re still not a mature enough democracy to let the realpolitik of service delivery, crime, land repatriations, corruption and the HIV/Aids issue in the upcoming municipal elections affect us fundamentally. Most voters will vote with their heart and will be consistent with their core political beliefs (and that of their parents and grandparents).

That�s why the ANC will still control the major municipalities come 3 March � voters will be consistent with the sentiment of 1994 which brought them into power.

Note to DA � your negativepolitik advertising campaigns, whilst relevant and hard-hitting will have no effect on turning ANC voters into DA voters. If you �cut off the ANC�s power�, you�re cutting off the power that brought the majority of this country out of �slavery� in 1994. You�re making a mockery out of what they fought for with their very lives. Whilst Churchill, Gorbachev and de Klerk were all kicked out after bringing their nations into the light, it won�t happen with the ANC for a while to come. The reality is that most ANC supporters will remain consistent with their beliefs and will vote ANC � even if they have to suffer a few power cuts, a truckload of corrupt officials and an Alice in Wonderland view of HIV/Aids.

How the �World�s Policeman� has started another Vietnam � with its peoples� blessing

After the body bags started landing on the shores of America from Iraq, it must have been obvious to everyone that George Bush has got America into its second Vietnam. Yet, he was voted in for a second term even though there was strong anti-war sentiments coming from Kerry and co.  After the aftermath of 9/11, America has taken tungsten-steel line on terrorism and become the world�s policeman. This unshakeable belief and the spectre of Al Kadir, has mislead a nation to declare war on Iraq on a whiff of a rumour of �weapons of mass destruction�.

Robert Mugabe is Africa�s ultimate Teflon politician

One would have thought that having systematically destroyed his country since taking power in 1980, Robert Mugabe and his cabal of destruction would have been soundly trounced by the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in the recent elections.

Instead, the MDC took a bigger hiding than Bafana Bafana took in the recent African Cup of Nations and Zanu-PF romped home to victory. The �war veterans� (some only 12 years old ;-)) had to remain true to the struggle that led them to power in the first place, didn�t they? Zimbabwe, even though it had a 14 year head start over South Africa in the democracy stakes, really is an immature democracy. And, let�s be honest, it�s a one-party state with more than 90% of the seats being held by Zanu-PF.

The strategy of consistency is full-blown in Zimbabwe � playing on the ghosts of 1980. Let�s take one example: press freedom. First, the people accepted that there would be some media censorship, then they ratcheted up to arresting journalists, then arresting editors, then the deportation of foreign journalists, then the burning of opposition newspaper offices and finally to banning them all together. See how easy it is to agree to a small thing and then have to agree to bigger, more Draconian steps � consistency at its worst.

�Resistance is futile � you will be assimilated,� � The Borg

As a marketer or salesperson, consistency is a powerful weapon for selling stuff. Once you get a prospect to agree to a small thing, then it is a lot easier to sell them the big thing. Let�s hold prisoners at Guantanamo Bay without trial, for an indefinite period because it is in the interest of national security, let�s monitor phone calls to see if anyone threatens the President and the country by using trigger words like �president�, �bomb� etc and now let�s forget about privacy � anyone in America can now be spied on, let�s invade Iraq. What will we agree to next � the invasion of Iran?

If you understand the power of consistency, you�ll be able to get people to agree to almost anything you put to them. It�s being used on all of us and we�re letting it happen because we�re not trained to resist this onslaught on our hearts and minds.

Be on your guard and think things through properly before you say �yes� to any request. Because as Leonardo da Vinci said, �It�s easier to resist at the beginning than at the end.�

 Copyright 2006 by Jacques de Villiers 

This article may be copied or republished with the following credit:

"By Jacques de Villiers, Inspirational Speaker, Johannesburg, South Africa.
+27 (0) 82 906 3693  www.jacquesdevilliers.com "