Youth apathetic about upcoming elections, some calling it a game
Some youth haven’t had the time to register to vote, others don’t really care as ‘politics doesn’t affect’ them
Young South Africans are turning their backs on elective politics at the fastest pace in at least two decades, a trend that may hurt the ruling party in next week’s vote. The number of South Africans under 20 who have registered to participate in the May 8 general election has dropped to the lowest level since at least 1999, data from the SA Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) shows. Among citizens aged 18 to 29 — the biggest segment of the voting population — registrations are at the lowest in at least a decade. The move may damage the ANC, whose leaders have been named in a string of corruption scandals and have presided over a jobless rate that has persisted at a 15-year high of 27%. This could also limit the benefits for the EFF, which is counting on support from young black South Africans with populist policies such as expropriation of land without compensation. Voter apathy “There is an element of voter apathy and not political apathy — in universities, you see robust and n...
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