Elections: Young people eager for change
AS of January 2024, almost 27 million citizens were registered to vote in South Africa’s general elections in May. Of these, the majority were women, at 14.9 million, whereas men accounted for around 12 million of the registrations.
In all the nine provinces, women took the lead in the number of registered voters.
The Sunday Independent spoke to a range of young men on whether they were registered to vote, and the reason behind their decision.
Final year Business Management student at the Durban University of Technology, Siyanda Shandu (23), said he was registered to vote, and felt that the ruling party was not doing enough to address the challenges faced by the youth.
“There are several reasons why I want to vote out the ruling party in South Africa. It’s basically due to dissatisfaction with their performance. I think that the ruling party has failed to address key issues such as unemployment, corruption, and social inequality.
“As young people, we want to see change… the unemployment rate for example is rising rapidly every year, graduates are sitting at home with their degrees collecting dust because there are no jobs.
“Corruption is rising and local municipalities are governed by old people with political connections… there are educated young people who are qualified and have good and necessary skills for these positions, but because of corruption, those young people will not get hired. These are some of the reasons I would want to vote for a new political party,” said Shandu.
He expressed his desire for new leadership arguing that he believed that a change in leadership was necessary to bring about fresh ideas and approaches to governance.
Johannesburg-based Lopertz Mbowane (28), said that he was registered to vote and would be voting for the first time this year.
“I haven't been voting in the past elections because I was not affiliated to any political party, and I felt there was no party to bring the necessary change required. One can say that I wasn't taught much about legislative processes, and this of course affected my participation.
“This year I’ll be voting as I feel that at last, I have a party that I have accepted and trust that will bring the change that we require as the youth, and I hope that my vote will make a difference,” he explained.
Like Shandu, Mbowane expressed his unhappiness with the rising levels of corruption in the country.
“It is rising with no consequences to those who were committing these crimes. Our country needs a party that will hold individuals responsible for corruption and all other crimes accountable. Students are drowning in debt as it appears that free education is not a priority in our country anymore, I am a victim of student debt and I cannot find ways to settle my debt and graduate.
“We need a party that's going to prioritise and contribute to improving our education system, as well as making employment accessible for graduates. We need a new ruling party that attends to the needs of the poor majority,” said Mbowane.
Luyanda Tevin Meyiwa (31) a DUT graduate and is currently in Asia on an educational programme facilitated by his university. He said he was registered to vote.
“I will be voting for various reasons, among them being that I like to take part in action, and if I had decided not to register to vote, I feel like I am not part of the history that is being written.
“I do hope South Africa will change and head in a radical direction, hence I am voting so that one day when I express myself, my voice is heard. There are so many things about the country that are good that I believe should also be brought to light yet we are so fixated on the negative.
“The country as much as it doesn't have job opportunities for young qualified individuals, the government has made sure that they create opportunities for us the youth by building relationships with other countries to to be able to knock on other doors to make a means of living.”
Meyiwa said he would be voting because he understood that it was voting which had enabled him to live freely and enjoy the right to freedom of speech.
A 2022 study by Amanda Gouws titled “Women in South African Politics”, Gouws said regardless of the lack of substantive representation, South African women have been participating in politics in larger numbers than men.
“In the 2019 national election, more women registered to vote than men, with women at 55% and men at 45%,” read the report.
Gouws explained that there was also a substantial gender gap in how women come to a voting decision arguing that they voted less on (the basis of) party loyalty, but also factored in policies, leadership, and rhetoric.
He added that women could sway an election, but their contribution as power brokers was not utilized by political parties because they did not attempt to draw in women voters.