Voter Apathy: An Inconvenient Truth

The official statistics showing the level of voter apathy amongst the South African youth in the upcoming elections should be a major concern in terms of stifling potential political change.  More alarming however is the apparent lack of understanding of how democracy can work for one. 

Perhaps it has suited some political parties, strategically, to keep the potential voters from understanding this powerful tool out of deserved fear.  What is of particular concern is the fact that so many of the youth (18 years+) having become disenchanted by the ANC’s rather dismal record, greed, corruption, cronyism, poor management, misspending and lack of delivery against promises made, and yet still don’t feel that there is an alternative to vote for to affect appropriate change.   Either that or the other major parties haven’t done a particularly good job in marketing themselves effectively to the most important market of all, ‘the future’.  This is a very sad indictment in so far as our future political landscape is concerned, tantamount to short-term accounting and a massive opportunity should any particular party set their eyes and ears firmly on the future. 

The Malemas of this world may be somewhat delusional, but they have a very strong point in recognising the plight of the youth of this country, particularly under the current financial crisis, fuelled by the ANC’s fraught education system debacle.  There is an undercurrent of an angry youth worldwide (note those behind the burgeoning Arab Spring around the world), and we must not be complacent in our belief that this is not a bubbling issue for our own beloved country.

So, here’s hoping that our good and honest politicians (note the oxymoron), take heed and address the real concerns of our disenfranchised youth before it all ends in tears.