Today’s youth pays most of their attention to social media and the latest trends. It’s rare r to find a member of the youth
interested in politics or even elections. Most individuals of the youth have no idea that elections are coming in the next year.
Youngsters of today feel it’s unnecessary to vote because at the end of the day, the elections seem biased because the
same party that governs the country, wins and the rich become richer while the poor continue to suffer while they lodge
complaints for service delivery. Voters are lured in with empty promises of a better South Africa where the economy
flourishes and there is more employment for the youth and better service delivery.
The potential leaders of the future are focused on fame, being content creators and partying. Our youth is more focused on
where the next big event is and the fake soft life we see on social media.
I conducted interviews with three different people to get their opinions with regards to the elections, my first interviewee was
a working class youth member Themba Scott mentioned “I don’t see the point of voting, it is simply a waste of time because
the same people we vote for are the same people who are failing us in our communities and day to day you hear stories
about corruption and empty promises, I have personally lost faith in the government of our country.
Noelene Sape, an unemployed university graduate who was a chairperson of the SRC and was politically involved in student
affairs and had said “what the country needs is change but we have no idea who we can trust because in all my political
experiences I have seen nothing better from all the current parties everyone is out for themselves in all sectors of the
economy, it is very hard to trust what is being said by campaigning politicians.
We as the youth need to be the change we want to see for our country.
Keabetswe Mokoto an unemployed member of society related “whether we vote or not it is one and the same because we
can’t get jobs, the only thing we get are 350 grants which is not enough to cater to our needs, we need to be independent
from the government.
Some of us are corner boys and drug addicts who suffer with sustaining an addiction more than else, in my personal opinion
a person who is high 95% of their time could care less about elections. We are the sad generation, it’s even sadder that we
don’t care about the wellbeing of our country, those who do care, simply don’t trust the government.
Politics have become the biggest money making scheme with the youth not being the target market.
The youth should be educated more about the importance of voting, so that we stay engaged with the current affairs. We
should be aware that not voting means losing the right to complain, by voting we can contribute to shaping the future of the
country.
Young people should know that their votes account for half of the population of voters and their vote could make a
difference.
