Why doesn't the youth vote? This question has been on my mind. At first, I asked myself, why should I vote? Is there even a need to vote? Why should I vote? The narrative that my single vote can make a change is a fallacy. Well in today’s world that is. By having close to the then 30 million Black South Africans believe their single vote can make a change, at that time of ’94 made sense. Even 10% of that population would have had the potential to outvote the White South Africans at the time. And let’s not forget that at that time, it was the first time that Black South Africans and other disadvantaged groups had the opportunity to cast their vote.
Before we engage in what it means to cast a vote, let us break down the system that governs the vote. There are three main electoral systems. There is the plurality electoral system (used by the United States of America), the majority electoral system, and lastly, the proportional representation system which is used by South Africa. This system basically states that based on the percentage of votes a party receives that will be the number of seats that the party also receives. Meaning, if a party wins 62% of votes (like the ANC did in 1994), it received 62% of the seats in parliament.
The fact that the ANC had such a dominating presence in parliament is what enabled the ANC to change the South African constitution in 1996. So let’s say that the ANC did not win by 62%. For some reason, the ANC won by 51% and the National Party won 49% of the votes. The day that the ANC proposes a change to the constitution, the National Party opposes it. It is possible that on this day, the National Party can target just 3% of ANC members to partner with them. These might be less prominent members of the party but have a seat in parliament. These members might even be threatened with their lives in order to be coerced. By convincing 3% of the ANC members, the power that the 51% ANC representatives have in parliament will fall to 48% and that of the NP will raise to 52%. Therefore, in such a situation, ANC might be the one who has most of the votes, but the power will remain with the NP.
We thank the Heavens that this was not the case. But this example is used for the following purpose. Leading to the elections, I was in town. As I was standing, minding my own business, I saw this old lady struggle to carry some of her groceries. She was really struggling so I figured that I should help the old lady. I rushed quickly and asked her if it was okay that I help her carry her groceries. She gladly accepted my offer. As we were walking to a taxi, she complained about the potholes. She, like many old people, mentioned how back in the day it was never like this. The roads were clean and well-kept. Then, out of the blue, she asked me if I am going to vote. I told her that no, I don’t think so. It was like I opened a can of worms! She began to lecture me about the importance of voting and that my vote will make a change. She said that in some wild event where the party I like is sitting 50-50 with an opposition, it is my vote that could make the change. She was way too old for me to engage about that notion so I nodded and helped her, finally, into the taxi.
The old generation, to some extent, has every right to believe in that notion. For them, indeed their vote meant change. So for the old people, to some extent, their loyalty to the ANC makes sense. It is the ANC that gave them freedom. They lived during Apartheid. We read about the discrimination, missing people, and strategic killings of leaders. They experienced the discrimination, they knew some of the missing people and they felt the pain of the death of their loved ones. They lived through Apartheid. They know it. Hence it is common for the elderly to complain about the smell of burst sewerage pipes but be thankful that at least they have a brick RDP house that is better than the mud house they lived in prior 94’. Old people have pledged their allegiance to ANC and to a great extent, it is justified.
This is not the case with us the youth. Especially we Black youth and the DA noted this. However, DA is not for us. At face level, one could think that the DA is racist. But under careful analysis, one realizes that the DA is not racist. They just do not know what we Black people go through. They are for the White liberals. A White liberal might feel some empathy towards the plight of the Black man. They might want to be a voice of reason and provide those in poverty with better opportunities. Their intentions might be true and sound. But at that the end of the day, they do not know our experiences. In all my years of riding the public bus, I have only seen one White person ride along with us. In all my years of riding public taxis (especially long distances ones), I have literally seen only one- white person ride a taxi. I know in areas like Cape Town and such this is not the case but bear with me.
A White person will not know how degrading it feels that you’ll cross the street as a Black man and all the drivers, Black or White, will quickly roll up their windows. A White person will never feel how embarrassing it is that you’ll be minding your own business walking down a street and an elderly woman, Black or White, will clutch their handbag with all their life. They don’t know how annoying it is for a person to bestow you a white name because your Black name is hard to pronounce. I am one of the millions of Black South Africans who experience this on a daily. And mind you, I am from middle-class Black South Africa. So imagine the experiences lived by Black folk in far worse socioeconomic conditions.
White liberals do not know about this experience simply because they never lived through it. Hence it is common for a White person, even a liberal, to tell us Black folk to forget the past and move on. Hence it is common for White people, even liberals, to disregard racial experiences that we Black people experience. This “intellectual arrogance” as Andile Zulu puts it, displays the attitude White people, in this country, have toward racism. This attitude was displayed clearly with Gareth Cliff on his podcast when he told ONE South Africa Movement representative, Mudzuli Rakhivane, that her racial experience “is completely anecdotal and unimportant to all of us”. Us, presumably being those on the podcast, were the viewers, Rakhivane, Cliff himself, and another special guest, DA leader John Steenhuisen; who you’d think as a leader of one of the biggest political parties in the country would do something, did nothing in response.
Yes, with their posters in Phoenix, perhaps the DA is racist. However, I know some White DA representatives in my town and I know that they are not racists. Some have suffered atrocities that could provide them with every reason to be racist. But they are not. They try their best to go above and beyond for their followers, especially Black folk who live in abject poverty. However, in the grand scheme of things, they just don’t understand the Black experience and therefore, can never fully represent us in government.
So as the youth, especially Black youth, who can truly represent us? These are some of the many questions that the youth ask themselves. And truth is, we live in a different world than that lived by our parents. Numerous articles state that the youth do want to make a change but not through traditional measures. Dave Alexander of the John Hopkins University states that the youth would rather sign petitions and be part of demonstrations rather than cast a vote. The reason is, the youth has no trust in established institutions.
This indicates that this is not only a local concern. Globally, the youth are distrustful of the established systems. The Mail & Guardian in their Oct 29 – Nov 4 issue highlighted the fact that less than 30% of South African youth trust parliament, local council, or opposition parties. And according to the same article and findings of the New York Times, less than 57% of South African youth are eligible to vote. That is a 16% decline from 2016.
So obviously, there are plenty of reasons for this. Political scientists say that there are three primary reasons why the youth do not vote. The first reason is tied to habit formation. The premise of this reason is that habits are formed if we see someone else (especially someone we look up to or our peers) do what we want to do or intend to do. So if we pay careful attention to some celebrities and public figures, they are more concerned about their social media brand than they are about casting a vote. Peers of young 20-year-olds are more concerned about securing a pair of Jordans than they are about making a change in the state of their municipality. Even for someone like me who gets close to tears whenever listening to freedom songs, there is nothing worth noting prompting me to vote. Those I look up to for political advice, this time around did not cast their vote either. These are people who are very politically mature. I know I am not on their level but I also know I am above average when it comes to political understanding. The fact that they did not vote, when they actually did in 2016, further solidified my habit of not voting come election time.
The second reason political scientists claim to be a reason the youth do not vote is the opportunity costs of voting. In this case, voting took place on a Monday and it was declared a public holiday. Most people were raving about the exploits they will be indulging in that weekend and not fusing about which party to vote for on Monday. Some were organizing gatherings and dichillaz and not worrying about making it on time for voting. Remind, this is the first time and in a very long time that the country returned to level 1 lockdown. A level reminiscent of the old pre-covid days. Therefore people were looking forward to enjoying some of the freedoms that they had forsaken, involuntarily, due to Covid. The youth, in general, did not have the event of Election Day over-shadow a fun-filled day of festivities with friends at parks or clubs. The opportunity of cost of having fun and enjoying some freedoms that were vacated for the longest time was too great to justify standing in a boring tent or hall to cast a vote. This is only one of the many opportunity costs that warrant the youth not to vote.
The last reason they say is alternative participation. This basically suggests that the youth would choose to engage through alternative methods rather than traditional ones. They would rather engage with memes about politics than enter into a debate in a council seating. They would rather share celebrity political comments than share their own. The established political institutions have lost trust with the youth of today. In the context of South Africa, corruption robbed the trust of the youth in the ANC. The clear stance to represent White liberals has robbed the trust of the youth in the DA, especially us of colour. The “we will take it and take it now” attitude of the EFF causes a majority of the youth to be very uncomfortable with the EFF. In the political landscape of South Africa, there is simply no party that clearly represents the needs and wants of present-day South Africa. More accurately, the needs and wants of modern-day youth of South Africa.
The reason I did not vote, and probably never will, is basic. I believe economic power leads to change, not political power. Political power to the entrepreneur is the end, not the means. By this I mean, as an entrepreneur, you can dictate the will of politics to your preference. If you have R10m that you want to invest in a town, the politicians of that town will do their best to get your money. Yes, they will want to pocket a million or two but the fact remains that they will dance to your chord. It is premature thinking of an entrepreneur to understand politics in order to make politics the means and not the end. By this I mean, it is foolish to learn and understand politics in order to establish connections that will give you tenders or similar preferences. This is foolish because what happens if your connection is fired or resigns? The source of your income diminishes too. And understanding the basics of politics, it is easy to understand how that premature thinking is financial suicide to a true entrepreneur.
I’d believe that like most children from middle-income homes, we got introduced to politics in university. For me, it is here that I began learning the nature of politics. How politics will affect you, no matter how indifferent you are to them. But, I was fortunate to have a position as a leader of a student structure in the Economic and Management Science faculty and I experienced student politics first-hand. Only because of my grades, I did not become the secretary candidate for the campus SRC. And that was a blessing in disguise that I realized later in life. It is those early experiences that opened my eyes fully to the nature of politics and why Steve Biko preached that a Black man should know his politics.
And so, inasmuch as it is a constitutional right to cast a vote, it is also a constitutional right not to cast the vote. The youth have the right not to participate in the traditional channels when expressing and addressing their political needs. The political climate has changed from the generation of our parents to us. We are no longer under the propaganda of “one man, one vote” that granted our democracy. The youth grew up in the RDP house that was given to our grandparents. The world is concerned with climate change and the equality of people of all people. We are fighting to destroy the traditional use of pronouns not whether I can enter a store based on race. Even though our political landscape still has elements of Black vs White, it has over the years become more than that. Unfortunately, our political leaders fail to see that. And because they fail to see that, they fail to represent us.
And that is why, we the youth, do not vote.
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