Disillusioned generation needs action, not empty words

The Electoral Commission of South Africa opened more than 23 700 stations this weekend to register voters for the 2026 local government elections. Yet, behind the impressive logistics, a far more troubling story is unfolding: a generation is checking out of democracy. The consequences will be felt for decades.

On the surface, the numbers the IEC released on Saturday appear encouraging. By midday, more than 330 000 applications had been processed, with early reports suggesting young people made up most of them. But the snapshot masks a deeper and more chronic problem. This is not a surge of enthusiasm; it is a trickle in a desert of disengagement.

The reality is that a staggering 70% of eligible young South Africans remain unregistered to vote. While the IEC has expanded its online portal and deployed over 800 municipal outreach coordinators, the problem is not administrative.

As IEC Deputy Chief Electoral Officer Masego Sheburi has admitted, research shows that young people are not registering “not because there are administrative barriers but because of developments in the body politic”. This is an indictment of our democratic system.

The reasons for the apathy are the same reasons that fill our streets with protest. Young people cite high unemployment, a lack of service delivery and a weak economy as reasons for staying away. They see a political system that has delivered little more than empty promises and corruption. The Zondo and Madlanga commissions revealed a level of state capture that has disillusioned a generation.

For a young person trapped in joblessness or struggling to access basic services, the act of voting can feel like legitimising a system that has failed them.

The disengagement is most dangerous at the local government level. When young people do not register, they are ceding control of the very services that shape their daily lives to older generations who might not share their priorities. They are choosing to be governed, rather than to govern.

The IEC’s drive to “Get Up, Show Up, Vote” is a noble effort, as are its youth-focused programmes like “Beats for My Peeps”. But catchy slogans and music cannot solve a crisis of trust. The problem is not that young people don’t know how to register. The problem is that they don’t see the point.

The apathy is a weapon of mass self-harm. The generation of 1976 did not fight so that their descendants could stand on the sidelines. They fought for the right to shape the nation’s future. When the youth of today choose not to vote, they are not just betraying that legacy; they are actively forfeiting their own future.

The IEC can do only so much. Political parties must take responsibility. They must stop treating young people as a demographic to be mobilised only during election season. They must place younger candidates in winnable positions and craft policies that address the unemployment and service delivery crises. They must prove that politics is not just a corrupt game for the elite.

The November 4 elections will be a test not just of the IEC’s systems but of our collective commitment to democracy.