GODRICH GARDEE

There is a quiet and deeply effective way to take power away from people in a democracy without suspending elections or rewriting the constitution.

It happens when millions of citizens remain unregistered on the voters’ roll and are excluded from the most basic act of democratic participation.

When South Africans arrive at polling stations in the 2026 local government elections, much of the outcome will already have been determined — not by the strength of political arguments, but by who is registered to vote and who is not.

SA currently has about 27.65 million registered voters, a figure that suggests a functioning and inclusive democratic system.

But of an estimated 9-million citizens between the ages of 18 and 29, only about 4.4-million were registered for the 2024 elections, meaning just 48.6% of eligible youth were on the voters’ roll.

Among those aged 18–19, the situation is even more severe, with registration sitting at about 27.1%. Older age groups are far better represented, with 67% of those aged 30–39 and more than 90% of those aged 50–59 appearing on the voters’ roll.

“When young people are under-represented in the electorate, their concerns are more easily sidelined in policy and budgeting decisions.” — Godrich Gardee

When young people are under-represented in the electorate, their concerns are more easily sidelined in policy and budgeting decisions. Youth unemployment, access to higher education, and entry into the economy risk being deprioritised in favour of concerns that reflect older, more consistent voting blocs.

This means fewer resources directed toward youth development programmes, limited expansion of opportunities for first-time job seekers, and a continued cycle in which young people remain economically marginalised while lacking the electoral influence to demand change.

Geography reinforces this exclusion, as registration rates vary significantly between rural and urban areas, with rural areas historically recording higher levels of voter registration, while metropolitan centres lag behind.

In provinces such as Gauteng, which have the largest concentration of urban voters, less than 60% of eligible residents are registered. Yet it is precisely in these urban spaces, where informal settlements expand rapidly, where infrastructure is under strain, and where service delivery failures are most visible, that democratic participation is most urgently needed.

Even among those who are registered, participation is declining in ways that raise serious concerns about the health of SA’s democracy. In the 2024 national and provincial elections, turnout among registered voters was about 59%, continuing a gradual downward trend over successive election cycles.

This has direct and immediate implications at the level of local government, where decisions taken by municipal councils shape the conditions of everyday life. The provision of water, electricity, sanitation, housing, road maintenance, and health-care services are all determined within local governance structures that are elected by those who are registered and vote.

When large segments of communities are absent from the voters’ roll, they are effectively excluded from influencing these decisions. The result is often a cycle in which poor service delivery leads to frustration, frustration leads to disengagement, and disengagement further weakens the ability of communities to hold leaders accountable. To not register in this context is a withdrawal from power that has material consequences.

Yet voter registration is not only about preventing democratic decline but is also about affirming presence and dignity within the political system. For millions of South Africans, particularly the poor, the young, and those living on the margins, being registered is an assertion that their lives, struggles, and aspirations matter.

It is a refusal to remain invisible in a system that allocates resources, shapes opportunities, and determines the conditions under which people live.

For this reason, voter registration must be approached not as a one-off administrative requirement tied to election timelines, but as a continuous and deliberate process embedded in community life.

It requires sustained engagement in schools, workplaces, neighbourhoods, and social institutions, and it demands that barriers to participation, such as lack of documentation or limited access to registration facilities, be actively addressed. Equally important is rebuilding trust in the political process by demonstrating that participation can lead to tangible change in people’s lives.

The question facing SA is not simply whether elections will be held, but whether they will genuinely reflect the will of the people. This depends, in the first instance, on the breadth and inclusivity of the voters’ roll.

As the EFF gears up to implement the first phase of our election strategy of mass voter registration on March 21, we remind South Africans that the struggle for democratic power does not begin on election day but with voter registration.

This ensures that every eligible citizen is counted and able to participate in shaping the future of their community.