Political parties say youth vote indicates they want their voices heard

Some political parties have stated that young people coming out in numbers to vote in this year’s election was an indication that they are exhausted and want their voices to be heard.

While the numbers of young people who registered and eventually voted have not yet been revealed as the voting results are still being tallied, the IFP and Rise Mzansi said they had noticed that many young people came out in numbers to cast their votes.

IFP national spokesperson, Mkhuleko Hlengwa said the youth’s appearance in these elections was very significant as those young people’s votes could make or break the ties.

“I think the young people have stepped out and I want to thank them for that and actively participating, and their participation has only strengthened our democracy,” said Hlengwa.

“We have got every reason as the IFP to believe and be hopeful as we have run a very solid and strong campaign and it’s early days right now but we believe that the numbers will stabilise for the IFP moving forward and we are not particularly at this time worried,” said Hlengwa.

ActionSA spokesperson Michael said, the youth’s participation was significant in elections so long as they truly understand what and who they want to vote for.

“We have gotten an increase in the younger population in South Africa, but I think the youth in our country feel a huge desolation in South African politics.

“I think a huge number of the youth are probably participating in somewhat of a protest vote rather than having a deep connection to a party.

“That’s a challenge we have to take on as a new party because while it’s true and we say the political establishment has failed SA, new political parties like ours have a lot of work to do to show people that there is an alternative and that it doesn’t need to be ‘the devil you know’ but that there is a better option,” said Beaumont.

Beaumont said while it was still too early for the party to be worried about the numbers on the screen, “we will wait for outcome patiently as there are more votes in Soweto than the entire province”.

“So we will wait before making any major statement on the basis of the current numbers as we speak, it’s still early days.”

Gugu Ndima from Rise Msanzi said while it is currently a very different time in politics for SA, young people came out in numbers to exercise their rights and also tell politicians that “anything can happen and we can be unpredictable.”

“What I appreciate is that you have a lot of voters coming through, first-time voters coming through and what that tells you is that there’s an intergenerational transition underway in politics, people who want to see different perspectives but also a representation in demographics to say ‘we are but exhausted and we just want our voices heard’.

“People are seeing the value of voting; that irrespective of views or issues, political apathy shouldn’t be determined by whether you vote or not but that if you want to see things happen then be part of the change.

“You need to participate and with young people coming out, it was an illustration of their voices wanting to be heard,” said Ndima.