South Africa’s young people face a double political failure: too many do not vote, while some who do vote choose based on party loyalty, identity or election day spectacle rather than their material interests.
Ahead of the local government elections on November 4, the argument should therefore be clear: young people must vote, vote according to evidence and issues, and increasingly contest political power themselves.
This is not a small constituency. Young people aged 15-34 make up nearly one-third of South Africa’s population and almost half the working-age population. Their official unemployment rate stood at 45.8% in the first quarter of 2026.
Many remain jobless even after obtaining qualifications while living amid rising costs, political corruption, weak public institutions and unreliable access to water, electricity and the internet.
Across Africa and beyond, youth numbers have repeatedly shown their force outside formal politics. Young people drove Kenya’s 2024 protests that forced the withdrawal of the finance bill. Student-led protests helped end Sheikh Hasina’s government in Bangladesh in 2024, and Madagascar’s Gen Z removed president Andry Rajoelina in 2025.
In India, sustained youth protests over exam leaks recently resulted in the resignation of the education minister. South Africa has its own examples in #RhodesMustFall and #FeesMustFall.
These movements demonstrate courage and organisational power, but protest victories are often temporary unless they are converted into institutional power.
A government may withdraw a bill, remove a minister or make promises while the political system that produced the crisis remains intact. Young South Africans must therefore convert protest solidarity into ballot power.
There is no gain in boycotting an election. Staying away does not nullify the result; it merely allows others to choose municipal governments on your behalf. Local government is where the rubber hits the road. It determines whether refuse is collected, potholes are repaired, streetlights work, water infrastructure is maintained and municipal finances are managed honestly.
Participation alone is not enough. Young people must also vote as citizens.
Professor PLO Lumumba provocatively describes three types of participants in African politics: the idiot, the tribalist and the citizen.
The idiot does not participate but expects conditions to change magically.
The tribalist votes mainly because a candidate shares their language, ethnicity, race, region or cultural identity.
The citizen asks a harder question: who has the capacity, integrity and programme to make government work?
The terminology is intentionally uncomfortable, but the lesson matters. A vote should not be bought with catering, taxis, T-shirts, celebrity performances or catchy but empty slogans. Nor should it be determined by which candidate looks or sounds familiar. Identity matters in every society, but it cannot substitute for competence.
The citizen votes according to issues. At the municipal level, this means examining a party or candidate’s record and asking whether they can provide reliable water and electricity, maintain roads and sanitation systems, enforce by-laws, professionalise the administration and reverse irregular, fruitless, wasteful and unauthorised expenditure.
For young voters, meaningful and gainful employment must also be central. Municipalities cannot industrialise South Africa on their own, but they can either support or obstruct development. Young people should demand credible plans for municipal support for broader economic development objectives, such as reliable infrastructure, serviced industrial sites, support for small manufacturers and businesses, local procurement, agro-processing, digital access and skills-linked public employment.
They should vote for candidates who understand capital accumulation must occur alongside national and local development, not instead of it.
This requires civic and democracy education. The Electoral Commission of South Africa cannot carry this responsibility alone. Higher education, civil society, the media and political parties must help turn angry and frustrated young people into informed political actors.
Aristotle described human beings as political animals. In today’s language, this does not mean becoming blindly obsessed with a party. It means understanding that budgets, appointments, procurement and council decisions shape everyday life.
Political literacy allows citizens to connect a dry tap, a broken road or an unavailable job opportunity to decisions made by identifiable office bearers.
Young people must also contest power. Those inside political parties should fight for meaningful leadership positions and deployment rather than accepting ceremonial youth representation.
Others should stand as independent ward candidates where parties are not an option. They cannot continue to outsource the responsibility for building a country in which they will live the longest.
Youth, however, is not automatically a qualification for leadership. A young candidate can also be dishonest, incompetent or self-interested. The case is for capable young leaders with education, experience, integrity, a record of service and a willingness to place the public before personal gain.
South Africa’s youth have already proved they can fill streets, organise online and force public officials to respond. On November 4, they must demonstrate they can also fill voting stations, vote according to their interests and place more capable young people on the ballot.
A politically mature generation does not have to choose between voting and protesting; it must do both and must also govern.
Protest solidarity can disrupt power, but ballot power organised around issues and led by capable youth can replace it.
- Mvenene is a lecturer at iYunivesithi Walter Sisulu. He writes in his personal capacity.
Sowetan
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