Marginalised youth look to alternatives outside the vote to make their voices heard

Traditional politics and representative democracy seem to be failing to engage young people. If the youth aren't participating, the argument goes, it's because they don’t care and they are apathetic. There is a growing body of evidence demonstrating that around the world, the youth are increasingly alienated from electoral processes – this despite being aware that young people have been instrumental in advancing social and political transformation.

The issue here is not apathy but rather a lack of representation. The large number of young activists and young professionals running community programmes illustrates that young people are simply engaging in politics in other, more participative ways. Young people want change but no one is listening. The result is often ‘protest voting’ where voters punish the political parties they perceive have failed them.

In SA, the trend has been towards the so-called ‘fallist’ movements. Youngsters are neither apathetic nor apolitical; they do care. They want to save their future before it too is stolen. Today, many young people believe that demonstrating draws more attention and change than signing petitions or turning out on election day.

In many cases, when protests do turn violent, it is because the people involved think they have no other choice. They play the hand they are dealt, however bad it is. Involving the youth in politics and political processes is critical to nurturing long-term societal stability and peace but also for the nation's socio-economic progress. Yet, the number of first-time voters who have registered since the last national election is a cause for alarm: less than 20% of those eligible are participating.

South Africans are no longer expecting answers from their political leaders. In fact, in the most recent election, a stunning 49% of the voting-age population cast ballots – an unprecedented low for SA in the post-apartheid era.

Young people are primarily responsible for these levels, thanks to spiralling levels of youth unemployment – 57.47% (2019 figures) and the worst in the world. That is approximately three million young people who are jobless – and financially destitute.

The youth can influence South African politics, 18 to 29-year-olds comprise 22% of the electorate or 11.7 million individuals. Less than half (48.6%) were registered to vote in the 2019 elections, which is down substantially from the 2014 election when some 58% of all 18 to 29-year-olds were registered to vote.

Young people do not differentiate between local and national elections. For the majority, their neighbourhoods have changed little, if at all. They raise different concerns that could be meaningfully addressed by political parties. These issues have emerged in four key, and perpetually unresolved, areas and include unemployment, access to quality and free education, widespread corruption and underdeveloped infrastructure.

A party's success in these key areas could bolster youth participation in the electoral process. Instead, ward councillors and public officials are thought of as only looking out for themselves. President Cyril Ramaphosa’s recent cabinet appointments are one example. He seems to have reshuffled his deck but apparently, change was not on the cards. Averaging 60 years of age, the new cabinet is also probably the oldest we have ever had. 

Ironically, axed defence and military veteran minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula gets to preside over parliamentary committees investigating her for corruption and embezzlement as the new National Assembly Speaker.

TimesLIVE polled its readers on the appointment with only 6% approving of the selection. Justice Malala perfectly summarises the situation: ‘It is shocking just how much corruption, incompetence, treachery, arrogance and ignorance can be brought together by the ANC in the guise of public service.’

When the president testified that “the incidents of corruption that would in time be described as 'state capture' became known to me as they did to the general public through the work of journalists”, many saw his bluff.

The ANC should be warned. They have staked the farm on a hand that the opposition will almost certainly seize. A significant minority of the population is willing to accept one-party rule or a strongman as long as the government promises to promote economic growth.

They assume that those regimes are consistent with democracy since they identify democracy with equalising economic outcomes. And in the opposition, some are offering just that. In the recent KwaZulu-Natal by-elections, the EFF's reputation for fighting for important causes such as land and education, as well as its demonstrated capacity to mobilise young people, are finding appeal.

Politicians love Bible stories, so it seems fitting to remind them: ‘The stone the masons threw out became the cornerstone’ (Psalm 118: 22). The youth are the foundation of our future, and those who are the face cards of this political deck should not forget it!

By Francois Gilles de Pelichy, department of political sciences, University of Pretoria