ANALYSIS
By Lauren Tracey
With the date for South
African's local elections yet to be set, and political parties yet to start
their campaigns, all eyes will be on the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC)
to garner the elusive youth vote and get young people registered on 5 and 6
March 2016. But with just a week to go before the 2016 local election
registration weekend, the IEC may be hard pressed to convince young eligible
voters that their votes matter.
Over the past few months South Africans have witnessed a
wave of protests, most recently seen in the #FeesMustFall and #RhodesMustFall
movements. Young people, frustrated and angry, are now saying 'enough is
enough, things need to change in South Africa!' But whether they see voting in
the local elections as the best way to achieve this is debatable.
Following the resurgence of the #FeesMustFall movement
last month, students were heard chanting 'No free education, no election' as
they threatened to boycott the local elections. How effective then, will
election campaigns aimed at young people really be? Could the recent wave of
protests by students spell disaster for the IEC's upcoming registration
weekend?
The IEC officially launched the 2016 local elections
campaign at Gallagher Estate in Midrand in January. The event, attended by
various party representatives, traditional leaders and officials, was a chance
for the IEC to demonstrate its readiness for the local elections.
As
part of its communication strategy and in a bid to get more young people
registered and to the polls on voting day, the IEC once again mentioned that
the youth would be a key focus area.
This strategy is commendable, but will it be enough to
convince the almost 10 million eligible young voters under the age of 30 that
their vote matters, and that they should therefore register to vote?
According to Chief Electoral Officer, Mosotho Moepya, as
many as 80% of young people under the age of 35 years old are not on the
voter's role. The IEC has also said that of approximately two million young
eligible voters between 18 and 19 years of age, a mere 289 000 - or less than
15% - are registered.
During the 2014 national elections, and despite targeted
interventions and campaigns by the IEC and political parties, only 33% of
eligible voters between the ages of 18 and 19 registered to vote. Could this be
an indication that young people are not being swayed by these targeted
interventions and campaigns?
In South Africa, marginalised groups are being
increasingly conditioned that protesting and demonstrating is the only way to
get their voices heard, and have their concerns and challenges addressed. For
many young South Africans, boycotting the elections is a political statement in
itself; a way in which to illustrate their growing restlessness at the glaring
inequalities and challenges.
In 2014, the
Institute For Security Studies conducted a study to understand the voting
behaviour of young South Africans between the age of 18 to 24 years old. The
research found that low levels of youth participation in elections point to a
number of factors, the least of which is youth apathy. The study, conducted
among 2 010 students in various high schools and tertiary institutions across
the country, highlighted young people's frustrations with the current political
landscape. It also drew attention to the challenges they continue to face, which
includes youth unemployment, corruption, poor service delivery and poor
education. Many of these factors have an impact on whether or not they would
vote in an election.
Young people do not necessarily see voting as important,
or as something that could bring about change within their communities. As one
18-year-old, high-school student in Gauteng said, 'I don't see the need to vote
because we have been voting for [a] long [time]. In my community, for the past
18 years there has [still] been no change. They still stay in shacks and there
is no clean water. So I don't see a need for voting.'
Other students said that as long as political parties
fail to address the issues that young people face, they will not be voting. As
one 19-year-old Further Education and Training College student said: 'We will
complain 'til hell breaks loose, some things will [still] not change. Until
[there is] a political party [that] represents what I need and what I feel
South Africa needs, I will not vote.'
What
more can be done to convince young people that their votes matter and that they
are important? In the lead-up to the local elections, young people need to know
that their vote is important in bringing about the change they want to see in
their communities.
The IEC and political parties need to focus on creating
awareness among young people regarding the role that local government plays -
particularly in addressing the very challenges that they face. These include
the delivery of basic services, sanitation and water, municipal health
services, public transport, infrastructural development such as roads, parks
and housing.
Young people need to be made aware that local government
elections present an avenue to express their demands and highlight their
grievances in a way that could bring about the desired outcome. Conversely,
they need to understand that boycotting the local elections will only entrench
the status quo - and the challenges they face may never be addressed.
Lauren Tracey, Researcher, Governance, Crime and Justice
Division, ISS Pretoria
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