YOUR VOTE. YOUR VOICE. YOUR FUTURE

By zamantimande ngwenya

A Mini Guide for South African Youth Who Want to Vote But Don’t Know Where to Start.

Let us be honest about something. Not voting is also a choice, and it is one that someone else benefits from. In South Africa’s 2024 general elections, youth turnout hit its lowest point since democracy began in 1994, with only 58% of registered young voters showing up at the polls. Millions of young people stayed home. Not out of laziness, but often out of genuine confusion. Too many parties. Too many promises. Too much noise. And not enough straightforward guidance on how to cut through it.

This guide is not here to tell you who to vote for. That is your decision and yours alone. What it is here to do is give you the tools to make that decision yourself, clearly and confidently. Because the country that gets built over the next five years will be built on votes cast or not cast by people exactly like you.

  THE NUMBERS THAT SHOULD WORRY US ALL

  42% of South Africa’s voters’ roll is made up of people aged 18 to 34. That is 11.7 million people.

  Only 22% of eligible youth voted in the 2019 general elections.

  Youth unemployment sits at 45.5%. That means nearly half of young South Africans have no job and no income.

  44% of people aged 16 to 34 are not in employment, education, or training (NEET).

  The 2024 election produced a government of national unity because no single party won a majority. That coalition was shaped by who showed up.

WHY THE YOUTH IS NOT VOTING

Before we talk about how to vote, we need to be honest about why so many young South Africans are not. It is not simply apathy. Research consistently shows that young people care deeply about the issues that affect their lives. The disconnect is between caring about problems and believing that the ballot box is the tool to fix them.

Too many parties, not enough clarity

In 2024, 52 parties appeared on the national ballot. Fifty-two. For a first-time voter trying to make a responsible decision, that number is not empowering. It is paralysing. Most of those parties had no meaningful public profile, no accessible manifesto, and no youth outreach strategy. The result is that young voters either pick the most familiar name, follow their family’s tradition, or simply stay home.

Broken promises and deep distrust

South Africa’s youth grew up watching load shedding, school buildings collapse, NSFAS payments arrive late, and youth unemployment climb higher every year. When the parties that oversaw those failures return to campaign, asking for another five years, the cynicism is not irrational. It is earned. Academic research from EISA confirms that the disconnect between democratic promises and tangible outcomes is particularly pronounced among young South Africans, and that persistent unemployment has deepened this disillusionment.

Nobody taught us how

Here is the part nobody says loudly enough. Civic education in South African schools is deeply inadequate. Most young people reach voting age without ever having had a structured conversation about what political parties actually stand for, what a manifesto is, how coalition governments work, or what their vote concretely changes in their community. Nobody taught them. So when election day comes, they guess or they abstain.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE YOUTH DOES NOT VOTE

The consequences of youth voter abstention are not abstract. They are measurable, and they land directly on the lives of young people.

• Politicians stop designing policies for young people when young people stop showing up. Parties chase the demographics that vote. When youth turnout is low, the policies that get prioritised in budgets and in Parliament are the ones that serve older, consistent voters.
• Elections get decided by other people’s values. The 2024 election shifted the entire political landscape because parties like MK emerged and split the traditional ANC vote. Those outcomes were decided by millions of votes. The youth’s silence handed older demographics more power over that result.
• Student funding, housing, and healthcare policies remain neglected. NSFAS has been in crisis for years. The departments responsible for fixing it answer to elected officials. Those officials answer to voters. When youth are not voting, no one is politically accountable to fix the things that are breaking young people’s lives.
• Coalition governments become unstable and unrepresentative. South Africa now operates in a coalition era. Unstable coalitions, like those that collapsed repeatedly in Johannesburg and Tshwane, cost municipalities money, delay service delivery, and leave communities without effective governance. Young people who vote shape which parties have leverage in those negotiations.

HOW TO DECIDE WHICH PARTY TO VOTE FOR

This is the question most young voters are actually asking, even if they frame it as indifference. Choosing a party is not about picking the most exciting leader or the most familiar logo. It is about matching your own lived priorities to the party that comes closest to addressing them. Here is a practical framework.

Step 1: Know what matters to you personally

Before you look at a single party, make a short list of the three things that affect your life the most right now. Be honest and be specific. For most young South Africans those things tend to include some combination of:

• Student funding and the state of NSFAS
• Youth unemployment and job creation
• Safety and crime in their community
• Load shedding and access to electricity
• Land and housing
• Corruption and government accountability
• Cost of living and access to healthcare

Step 2: Read the manifestos, not the speeches

A manifesto is a party’s written commitment to what it will do if elected. Speeches and rallies are performance. The manifesto is the document you can hold them to. Every major party’s manifesto is available free online on the IEC website (www.elections.org.za) and on each party’s own website. You do not have to read the whole thing. Search for the sections on education, employment, and the issues you listed in Step 1. Look for specific commitments, not vague language. ‘We will create jobs’ is not a policy. ‘We will fund 100,000 youth apprenticeship placements by 2027’ is.

Step 3: Look at track record, not just promises

Where has a party already governed? What happened in those places? The DA has governed the Western Cape for over a decade. Look at service delivery outcomes there. The ANC has governed nationally since 1994. Look at what improved and what did not. The EFF has been in coalition in municipalities like Johannesburg. Look at what they achieved or blocked. History is the most honest manifesto a party has.

Step 4: Understand the ideological spectrum

You do not need to be a political science student to understand the basic differences between South Africa’s major parties. Here is a simplified breakdown:

HOW ELECTIONS ACTUALLY WORK IN SOUTH AFRICA

South Africa uses a proportional representation system. This means you vote for a party, not a specific person. The percentage of votes a party receives determines how many seats it gets in Parliament or a provincial legislature. Those seats then determine which party leads government or which coalition is formed.

In national and provincial elections you receive two ballot papers:

1. A national ballot for the National Assembly (Parliament).
2. A provincial ballot for your province’s legislature. You can vote for different parties on each ballot if you choose.

In local government elections you vote for a ward councillor (a specific person who represents your area) and also for a party. Both ballots matter. The ward councillor is often the most direct line between your community and service delivery, so this election is arguably the one that touches your daily life the most.

YOUR STEP-BY-STEP VOTING GUIDE

Before election day

3. Register to vote at your nearest IEC office, or online at www.elections.org.za. You need your green barcoded ID or smart ID card. You can also use the MyVoteSA app.
4. Confirm your voting station. Your registration details will show you exactly where to go on election day.
5. Read at least the education and employment sections of the manifestos of two or three parties you are considering. Give yourself one week to do this. It takes less time than a single Netflix episode.

On election day

6. Bring your green barcoded ID or smart ID card. No ID, no vote.
7. Join the queue. Officials will check your ID and mark your name on the voters’ roll.
8. Your finger will be marked with ink to prevent double voting.
9. You will receive your ballot paper/s. Go into the private booth. Find your party and make your mark. One clear X next to your chosen party.
10. Fold the ballot and place it in the ballot box. You are done. You have voted.

THE BOTTOM LINE

You do not need to have all the answers to vote. You do not need to love any party. You do not need to believe that one election will fix everything. What you need is to understand that the people who do vote are deciding the country on behalf of the people who do not.

South Africa is now in a coalition era. The 2024 elections proved that no single party commands a majority anymore. That means every seat matters more than it ever did before. A few thousand votes in a key province can determine which party gets leverage in coalition negotiations, which policies get pushed, and which ones get buried.

The youth of South Africa makes up 42% of the voters’ roll. That is not a footnote. That is a majority waiting to be activated. The question is not whether your vote matters. The question is whether you will use it.

Not voting is a choice. Make sure it is a choice you are making consciously, not one being made for you by a system that counts on your silence.

  USEFUL RESOURCES

  IEC (Electoral Commission): www.elections.org.za

  MyVoteSA App: Available on Android and iOS

  ANC Manifesto: www.anc.org.za

  DA Manifesto: www.da.org.za

  EFF Manifesto: www.effonline.org

  RISE Mzansi: www.risemzansi.org

  BOSA: www.bosa.org.za

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