1. Background
- Short overview over recent democratic and electoral developments in South Africa
In the 22 years since South Africa’s first democratic elections the electoral administration has changed significantly, maturing from an interim and transitional structure hastily put in place to deliver the historic 1994 elections, to a more established, formal and mature institution.
The Interim Independent Electoral Commission that delivered the 1994 elections had just five months to prepare the first elections during which over 19,5-million South Africans cast their votes at over 9 000 polling stations. There was no voters’ roll, millions of voters were without valid and accurate identity documents and the pre-election political environment was one of conflict and mistrust.
Yet against all odds these elections – which according to today’s standards would be regarded as technically flawed – were peaceful and accepted by all parties, voters and observers as free and fair.
Twenty two years later the picture has changed significantly. The Electoral Commission of South Africa today comprises over 1 000 permanent staff (swelling to over 220 000 during an election), has conducted four further national and provincial elections (1999, 2004, 2009, 2014), four municipal elections (2000, 2006, 2011 and 2016) and hundreds of by-elections. A voters’ roll has been established and maintained, growing to over 26.3-million people representing almost 80 per cent of the voting age population for the 2016 Municipal Elections.
The number of voting stations has more than doubled since 1994 to 22 612 in the 2016 elections, both to facilitate easier access to voting stations for voters, and to improve efficiency by reducing the time it takes for them to cast their ballots.
Multiparty democracy also continues to thrive, supported by the proportional representation system employed for the national and provincial elections and the mixed system used in local government elections. The number of political parties appearing on the ballots for the national and provincial elections increased from 19 in 1994 to 29 in 2014. The number of political parties represented in Parliament has increased from seven in the first democratic parliament to 13 in 2014.
Municipal elections too have seen an explosion of participation by political parties and candidates – from 70 parties and 30 081 candidates in 2000 to 205 political parties and 63 654 candidates participating in the August 2016 Municipal Elections.
A system of formalised and regular interaction with political parties at national, provincial and municipal level in the form of Party Liaison Committees is in place to engage with political parties to build consensus and support for electoral processes and systems.
And, while still relatively young, there is a body of legislation and growing jurisprudence which is helping electoral democracy in South Africa mature and stabilise.
- Introduction to youth participation in the political sphere
South Africa’s youth have a strong tradition of political activism and being at the forefront of the struggle for freedom and democracy in South Africa and beyond. In South Africa, on June 16 each year, a national holiday is celebrated to commemorate the role of the youth in the liberation struggle, marking the occasion in 1976 in which students in Soweto took to the streets to object to Bantu education.
Yet over the past 20 years the once-powerful youth wings of political parties have declined in numbers and influence, many of them ending in disarray[1]. Where once political activism was a highly regarded undertaking and part of the social fabric of South African society and communities under apartheid, many of today’s young people appear to shun formal political careers in favour of business and view those involved in politics as somewhat lacking in moral authority[2].
Studies – backed up by the Electoral Commission’s own voter registration statistics and voter turnout in elections between 1999 and 2016[3] - show the youth are the least interested in voting and in political activity.[4]
The Electoral Commission’s interactions and engagements with young people, backed up by research, show that at the heart of the disillusionment with electoral democracy is a perceived lack of accountability. ´Nothing will change!´ or ´It won’t make any difference!´ or ´They are corrupt!´ are the most frequent messages from young people pressed on why they do not vote in elections.[5]
2. Youth participation in politics and elections
South Africa has one of the youngest populations in the world with half of its current total population of approximately 55 million people born after the release of Nelson Mandela in 1990.[6]
While young people in South Africa represent the majority of the population this strength is not reflected in participation in the electoral process. An analysis of voter registration statistics shows that while youth registrations are increasing, they are not growing at the same pace as the population.
While gross numbers of voters under 30 years old grew between 2011 (6 006 294) and 2016 (6 283 160), in real terms there has been a decline. While 25.39 per cent of registered voters in 2011 were under 30, just 23.86 per cent of registered voters in 2016 were under 30 years old.[7]
The gross numbers increased just 4.6 per cent in the two lowest age groups compared to 11.3 per cent average increase in voter registration and an annual average population increase of 7.77 per cent between 2011 and 2016[8].
Just 31 per cent of 18 and 19 year olds eligible to vote in the May 2014 national and provincial elections actually registered to vote – and only a quarter of all voters who cast their vote in the election were under 30 years of age (against a registered population of over 33 per cent).[9]
Studies show the youth are the least interested in voting and in political activity. In a report published in January 2013 Vanessa Malila of the School of Journalism and Media Studies at Rhodes University found that willingness to vote, political activity and general interest in politics was particularly low amongst South African youth across the categories. The data further show that young people are mistrustful of politics and political processes. The findings also generally show that youth are uninterested in politics as a topic for media consumption.[10]
The Electoral Commission’s own research4 shows that the youth, aged 18 – 25, are the least motivated of all age groups to vote in elections. Those who say they won’t vote most commonly say that voting won’t make a difference or that they find few parties or candidates worth believing in.
According to this research, the majority of young people who voted or who plan to vote indicate that they are doing so to change their circumstances. Most cite increasing employment opportunities, better education, housing and local services as their primary motivators for voting.
This is unsurprising given the high unemployment rate in South Africa. A study in 2015 showed one third of children between 15 and 19 live in households where no one is employed and employment levels among males of working age born since 1990 is estimated at 67 per cent and females an alarming 75 per cent (including discouraged workers)[11].
The study by the South African Institute of Race Relations in April 2015 revealed that “born frees”[12] are abandoning democratic processes in favour of more violent protests as they be become increasingly politically and economically alienated.
When it comes to young people participating in elections as candidates, candidates over 40 years comprised 64.86 per cent of the total in the May 2014 national and provincial elections – with candidates under 30 years comprising just 11.8 per cent (1 020).[13]
However, young candidates for national and provincial legislatures have increased by 17 per cent since 2009 when just 869 of the 9 117 candidates were under 30 years old. In 1999 there were 724 candidates under 30 years old out of a total of 7 140 candidates.[14]
When it comes to standing in local government elections as municipal councillors the statistics are similar. Candidates over 40 years old comprised 60.35 per cent of the total in the August 2016 Municipal Elections – with candidates under 30 years comprising just 12.92 per cent.[15]
Most of South Africa’s political parties have youth structures (leagues or wings) that seek to encourage young people to become involved in political processes both as activists (recruiters, volunteers and other active members of youth political structures) and ordinary members (voters/supporters).
However, generally these lack the popularity and influence which they enjoyed prior to the end of apartheid and in the first decade of South Africa’s democracy[16] and many young people today are either politically passive or disengaged.[17] [18]
This is not to say they are apathetic or disorganised. In the run-up to both the May 2014 national and provincial elections and the August 2016 Municipal Elections South Africa experienced a wide range of civil actions in a variety of communities in the low socio-economic rungs of South Africa economic landscape. Labelled as ´service delivery protests´, these disruptions were marked by members of local communities blockading streets, burning tyres and frequent destruction of government property (including schools and municipal buildings). Young people frequently comprised the bulk of these protestors expressing their anger at government over perceived lack of delivery of promised services in prior elections. The protests including preventing the registration of voters and electioneering by political parties in these areas may have led to lower registration and voter turnout.
In addition, students protesting for free tertiary education engaged in widespread protest action – frequently violent - which closed many campuses in late 2015 and mid-2016. Interestingly, the protests were organised primarily via social media under the banner #feesmustfall and, unlike apartheid era protests, were largely a-political and not associated with any formal political party.
- The key challenges to effective youth participation in electoral democracy
Key challenges to effective youth participation in electoral democracy in South Africa include:
- Low levels of voter registration among the youth
- Perceptions by young people of lack of accountability by political parties and candidates
- Limitation of political parties and policies with which young people affiliate
- General lack of interest and involved in politics among younger generation (compared to pre-1994)
- Reduced influence of political party youth structures among young citizens
- Reduced trust in electoral and political processes due to corruption in government structures and perceptions of lack of service delivery
- High youth unemployment and economic opportunities which leads to further youth disillusionment with formal political and economic activities
- Increase in protest action by young people as a means of highlighting issues and concerns.
3. EMB entry points
- The mandate of the Electoral Commission in South Africa
The Electoral Commission of South Africa is an institution established and mandated by Chapter Nine of the Constitution to manage national, provincial and municipal elections and to ensure that these elections are free and fair.[19]
By law, the Electoral Commission’s functions include (among others):
- to promote conditions conducive to free and fair elections
- to promote knowledge of sound and democratic electoral processes
- to promote voter education
- and to promote cooperation with and between persons, institutions, governments and administrations[20]
A key task and responsibility of the Electoral Commission is to establish and maintain a national common voters’ roll as the foundation for participation in electoral democracy. First established ahead of the 1999 national and provincial elections over three registration weekends in late 1998 and early 1999, the national common voters’ roll has been updated and used for all national and provincial elections (1999, 2004, 2009 and 2014), municipal elections (2000, 2006, 2011 and 2016) and an average of over 100 by-elections per year.
- The role of the Electoral Commission with regards to youth participation in the electoral process
The Electoral Commission’s mission as an independent constitutional body is to manage free and fair elections through the participation of citizens, political parties and civil society by deepening electoral democracy. This requires the Electoral Commission to take an active and leading role in ensuring the highest levels of participation of all key stakeholders in electoral democracy through education, engagement, research and thought-leadership.
While the Constitution, adopted and signed into law by President Nelson Mandela in 1996, establishes a number of institutions to safeguard, protect and advance the Constitution, Human Rights and democracy, it is the Electoral Commission which is mandated with voter education.
This means ensuring that first-time voters are taught the values of the Constitution in relation to electoral democracy and the promotion of responsible citizenship among the youth are some of the Commission’s key responsibilities.
- The overall objectives of the Electoral Commission engagement with youth
The Electoral Commission’s overall objectives in terms of engaging with youth are to:
- Develop a youth agenda[21]
- Establish a platform for ongoing interaction and engagement with youth
- Promote knowledge and understanding of electoral democracy and the elections process through an on-going civic and democracy education programme and supporting communication initiatives
- Encourage critical thought on matters affecting young people in relation to electoral democracy, therefore encouraging responsible citizenship
- Encourage voter registration and electoral participation by young and first-time voters.
While this mandate is focused on voter and electoral democracy education, a wider approach towards civil education and democracy history is adopted by the Electoral Commission. This includes ensuring a broader understanding of the importance of human rights, political freedom and tolerance and the role of elections in a modern democracy. This is especially important given the relatively recent adoption of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (just 20 years ago), its Bill of Rights and the introduction of democracy within South Africa in 1994.
- Key activities aimed at promoting youth voter registration and participation: South Africa 2014 - 2016
- Ahead of general elections the Electoral Commission uses research to assess the attitudes of eligible voters (with a specific focus on young and first-time voters) to help inform its education and communication strategies. This includes annual democracy satisfaction surveys conducted by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC)[22]. The Electoral Commission also commissions the HSRC to conduct voter participation surveys ahead of each general election to assess, among others, the intention of eligible voters to participate in elections.[23]
- In November 2014 a research survey was conducted by a market research company among young eligible voters to assess their attitudes to electoral democracy and their intention or otherwise to participate in up-coming elections. The views expressed by respondents were used to develop a comprehensive communication and education campaign implemented ahead of the 2016 Municipal Elections.[24]
- Launch of large-scale targeted communication and education initiatives ahead of elections to encourage voter registration and participation using traditional communication channels (including television, radio, billboards, print media) as well as increasingly using newer channels of digital (cellular telephones, websites) and social media (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) (For more information see showcased activity on page 8 -11).
- A pre-election communication campaign focusing on preparing young people for voter registration (including the vital enabler of obtaining a national identity document) was implemented on digital and social media channels between October and December 2015 ahead of the 2016 Municipal Elections.
- Conducting of face-to-face education initiatives at schools, campuses and community venues. A team of more than 1 000 Democracy and Education Fieldworkers was deployed ahead of both the 2014 and 2016 elections around the country who engaged over 150 000 young people in face-to-face democracy education.
- Local electoral offices heighten briefings (and distribution of ‘how to’ voter factsheets and other advocacy materials) to learners at secondary education institutions.
- Development of a 3D electronic game available for free download on digital platforms which informs young voters of the registration and voting process in a fun, interactive way and which they can share their scores via social media and challenge friends to beat them.
- As part of its programme to mark 20 Years of Electoral Democracy, the Electoral Commission brought together young people from all backgrounds and regions of South Africa for a youth summit in September 2014. The summit was attended by approximately 140 delegates representing institutions of higher learning, political parties, youth and civil organisations from around South Africa – along with representatives of the Electoral Commission from all provinces. The main purpose of this summit was to develop an agenda for effective youth engagement and participation in the processes of electoral democracy.
- Schools Democracy Week, a joint project with the Department of Basic Education aimed at introducing scholars to civic and democracy education has been held in schools around South Africa for four years (2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016). (For more information see showcased activity on page 11).
- Election Period:
- Engage with mostly young people on the Electoral Commission’s official Facebook and Twitter sites to provide last-minute guidance on voting requirements and direction to nearest voting stations. This included the launch of an election day twitter handle (#ivoted) along with a special Facebook “I voted” button.
- On election days, the Electoral Commission conducts an Election Satisfaction Survey to assess the experience of voters. Among the key findings of the Election Satisfaction Survey conducted on 3 August 2016 Municipal Elections were:
- 96 per cent voters were very or somewhat satisfied with the instructions and signage at their voting stations.
- 97 per cent found the voting procedures inside the voting station easy to understand
- 97 per cent of voters expressed satisfaction with the secrecy of their vote (62 per cent very satisfied; 34 per cent fairly satisfied) although there has been a decline over time in “very satisfied” (81 per cent in 2009; 62 per cent in 2016);
- 61 per cent of voters believed political parties were ‘very tolerant’ of one another during the 2016 election campaigns.
- 91 per cent of voters felt that the election procedures were free. This reflects a modest decline from 95 per cent in 2009 and 2011 and 94 per cent in 2004.
- The Electoral Commission conducts a series of post-election debriefings internally and with key political parties to assess the election and identify key lessons for future elections. This includes conducting various SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunity, threat) assessments are a wide variety of aspects of the elections (e.g. education, communication, candidate nominations, voter registration, voter turnout).
4. Bridging the gap between politics and the youth
- Activity 1: Reaching a new generation of voters via social media in 2014
The communication campaign for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections comprised two creative executions under one broad “I X (vote) South Africa” theme. The first featured ordinary South Africans reflecting the diversity of South Africans from all walks of life, all languages (including sign language), genders, race groups and disabilities. These voters discussed their reasons for voting in the 2014 elections and urged other South Africans to find their own personal reasons for voting.
The second creative execution focused specifically on the youth market (aged 16 – 29) and took its lead from other voter campaigns around the world – including in the United States – which showed that young people are highly influenced by well-known youth icons and celebrities.
In line with this, a group of young South African celebrities from the music, entertainment and media industries were invited to participate in a television and radio campaign in which they discussed why voting was important to them – and encouraged all young South Africans to follow suit. Between them, the young celebrities had over one million Twitter followers and the campaign also used a strong social media presence to drive awareness.
The IXSA visual campaign was rolled out across multiple media platforms in October 2013, in advance of the first voter registration weekend in November that same year. At the same time the Electoral Commission also announced major ‘up scaled’ social media initiatives, to facilitate and integrate dialogue and education around voter registration and electoral issues.
The Electoral Commission stepped up operations across three primary social media platforms – Facebook, Mxit, and Twitter – and hired a small team of three young social media content creators whose job, within the confines of electoral legislation, was to engage with young South Africans in their own language.
- Activity 2: Expanding the digital and social media presence in 2015/16
Following the success of the social media campaign for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections, digital and social media were once again key channels for communication in the 2016 Municipal Elections communications drive. This included sending over 2.5 million text (SMS) messages to citizens aged 17 to 25 years old urging them to register.
The social media campaign for the 2016 Municipal Elections kicked off with a pre-election education campaign on mobile web, Facebook and Twitter, which ran from mid-November to mid-December 2015. The campaign linked viewers of advertised Facebook posts, non-paid-for Facebook posts, and mobile ‘Please call me’ adverts to the Electoral Commission’s special 2016 Municipal Elections mini website (microsite), with almost daily posts providing eligible voters with information on municipal government, municipal elections and the requirements for registration.
The social media campaign continued during the launch of the 2016 Municipal Elections on 14 January 2016 and ahead of the registration weekends on 5 and 6 March and 9 and 10 April. Content on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and the mobile web focused on motivating eligible voters to register to vote, and educating them about the importance of municipal elections, the details of registration processes and key registration weekend dates.
Following the initial release of an animated digital game in 2014 aimed at educating new voters about how to vote, the IXSA game was significantly enhanced and expanded for the 2016 Municipal Elections to include the voter registration process and additional information around electoral democracy.
The updated version of the game was released in Android, Apple and Windows application stores for free download in November 2015. By the end of August 2016, it had recorded just over 41 000 downloads and had been played over 33 000 times. Scoring for the game showed that about 67% of the questions in the game were answered correctly. A song was also commissioned by young artists and provided free for download in a partnership with leading cellular telephone operations. 
Article from The New Age, 17 June 2016
To help boost registration by first-time voters, Facebook launched its first-ever voter registration campaign in Africa in partnership with the Electoral Commission which saw the deployment of a special voter registration message to all Facebook users aged over 18 years and a button which voters could share with friends to show they had registered. This was followed by a voting campaign on election day.
On the two days prior to the 3 August election, a specially created ‘thumbie’ (a selfie of a thumb marked with voting ink) video was posted on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram promoting the hashtag #ivoted. This hashtag then proceeded to trend at the number one spot on Twitter for the entire voting day.
In another social media initiative, photographers were contracted to visit a handful of preselected busy voting stations in each of the country’s nine provinces. These photographers then captured images of voters queuing to cast their vote, and posted the images with 2016 Municipal Elections branding and the hashtag #ivoted to their Facebook pages with their consent. Some 1 400 images were captured, just under 900 were uploaded directly to Facebook from the voting stations, and these generated just over 300 000 page impressions and 10 000 engagements.
Between November 2015 (at the start of the pre-election education campaign) and the end of August 2016, the Electoral Commission enjoyed the following significant growth in key social media platforms:
- The number of Twitter followers grew from just over 100 000 followers at the start of November 2015 to just some 155 000 followers by the end of August 2016. Throughout the period, the Electoral Commission’s Twitter profile featured in the top five governmental Twitter profiles in South Africa.
- Facebook likes increased from just over 200 000 Likes at the start of November 2015 to 288 000 likes at the end of August 2016. The Electoral Commission made the Top 50 South African brand list on Facebook and was the leading public sector brand. By 31 March 2016, the Electoral Commission had by far the largest audience of any government Facebook platform, and its Facebook page continued to rank as one of the fastest-growing governmental pages in South Africa. Facebook is currently writing a case study of the 2016 Municipal Election campaign.
- The Electoral Commission established a presence on the Instagram photo-sharing platform in February 2016 ahead of the registration weekends for the 2016 Municipal Elections which, with minimal promotions, had grown to some 600 followers.
Two key communication channels during the elections were the Electoral Commission’s website (www.elections.org.za) and its use of an Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) string (*120*432#) which enabled voters to check their registration details and find their correct voting station – which is key to voting in municipal elections. Facebook, in particular, was a great driver to the website, while the USSD string – being short – was particularly useful to reference in radio and Please Call Me adverts and in tweets.
(Insert box: The social media campaign went on to win first prize for Citizen Engagement at the International Electoral Awards hosted by the International Centre for Parliamentary Studies in late 2014.
The social media campaign for the 2016 Municipal Election communication campaign received a number of awards including:
AMASA Awards 2016:
- Best integrated campaign (Public Sector)
MMA SA Smarties Awards 2016:
- Cross Mobile Integration (Gold)
- Messaging (Bronze)
- Band Awareness (Bronze)
(Note: The share of advertising expenditure on social and digital media for the Electoral Commission during election campaigns has grown from less than 1 per cent in 2011 to over 11 per cent in 2014 to 23 per cent in 2016.)
- Activity 3: Schools Democracy Week – Never too young to learn about democracy
In 2013, in the run-up to the 2014 National and Provincial Elections, the Electoral Commission signed a three-year memorandum of agreement with the Department of Basic Education to facilitate a Schools Democracy Programme.
The collaboration between the Electoral Commission and the Department of Basic Education aims to increase youth registration and to educate young people and first-time voters about registration and voting. In the longer term, its objective is to entrench active participation as fundamental civic responsibilities, and to institutionalise and infuse electoral democracy content into the formal school curriculum at all levels.
The national Schools Democracy Week is a critical component of the Schools Democracy Programme as it aims to increase youth participation in electoral democracy and to institutionalise electoral democracy content into the schooling curriculum.
The Electoral Commission, in partnership with the Department of Basic Education, held the first national Schools Democracy Week in South Africa in October 2013.
Learners participating in Schools Democracy Week 2013
The main aim of the week is to activate and support the drive to increase youth registration, and to educate youth and first-time voters on registration and voting.
The campaign was discussed and agreed on by all represented political parties, through the national party liaison committee as well as provincial and local committees. Political parties were invited to participate by observing the roll-out of the campaign to ensure that it was conducted in an even-handed manner without party political bias.
The Electoral Commission’s national office provided the framework for the implementation of and reporting on the project. Provincial offices were responsible for the execution.
The national office was also responsible for developing and distributing learning/teaching support materials for both the General Education and Training (primary) and the Further Education and Training (secondary) schooling bands to provincial and local offices of the Electoral Commission.
Various teaching and learning materials were developed to support Schools Democracy Week activities, including two booklets (or toolkits) aimed at primary and secondary school learners, respectively, which were made available to teachers and learners in selected government schools.
All the Schools Democracy Week materials is available on the Electoral Commission’s and the Department of Basic Education’s website (http://www.elections.org.za/content/For-Voters/2015-Schools-Democracy-Week/). To encourage registration, the Week also had linked social media opportunities on Twitter, YouTube and Facebook.
The toolkits produced for Schools Democracy Week: Not Too Young: Teaching Electoral Democracy to Young South Africans and Becoming a Good Citizen: Electoral Democracy Toolkit for Teachers Grade 10-12
- Activity 4: Making information more accessible…and affordable
The growing demands on the organisation to provide its various stakeholders with information on elections at their convenience, and the 2016 Municipal Elections in particular, motivated the Electoral Commission to once again establish an integrated inbound contact centre to service the South African electorate. The purpose of the contact centre is to allow potential eligible voters to clarify any queries they may have with respect to voter registration, voter education and voting processes so that they may meaningfully participate in the elections.
Popular social media were again incorporated into the contact centre function, allowing the Electoral Commission to reach South Africans, and especially young unregistered voters, in a more integrated and accessible way. The contact centre was divided into a traditional call centre, which could be accessed through a toll-free number (0800 11 8000) and interactive internet-based communication tools, including social media applications such as Facebook and Twitter, and the Electoral Commission’s general email address, info@elections.org.za.
Following an intensive training period for contact centre agents, the contact centre went live with voice calls on 9 November 2015. As was done for the 2014 National and Provincial Elections, the contact centre also attended to standard queries on the Electoral Commission’s social media platforms, namely its Facebook and Twitter pages, a service that went live in early January 2016. Non-standard queries (according to pre-defined criteria) were still escalated to the Communications Department at the Electoral Commission’s national office. The contact centre was operational until the conclusion of the 2016 Municipal Elections. It was staffed by a core group of 28 agents with additional resources added for peak periods including registration weekends and election week. At its peak the Contact Centre was staffed by 113 agents and two team leaders. Operating hours were from 07:00 to 21:00 weekdays and registration weekends.
The following are statistics from the call centre which was operational from 9 November 2015 to 5 August 2016:
- Total number of calls: 218 260
- Number of calls handled by agents: 73 952
- Total Facebook interactions: 5 887
- Total Twitter interactions received: 48 877
- Total emails received: 18 850[25]
The most common questions about registration were about voter registration status information, registration requirements, and the location of registration stations.
Other ways of reducing the costs of accessing information included:
- Introduction of a USSD facility: USSD reduces the cost and ability of those with feature phones to accessing information via cellular telephones. For the 2016 Municipal Elections the Electoral Commission introduced a facility using USSD where voters could check if they were registered and where their voting station is located. The service (accessed by dialling *120*432#) reported the following statistics between November 2015 and August 2016:
- 2 077 887 sessions
- 1 060 000 unique users
- 00:51 seconds average time spent
- 775 246 unique ID numbers entered[26]
- Free downloads of the election song, electronic game and other election information.
4. Challenges and lessons learned
Low voter participation by young people can result in further political alienation among the youth and could lead to further dissent through processes other than electoral democracy.
A report by Statistics South Africa on Vulnerable Groups in South Africa released in April 2016 showed that the youth are the most affected by the problems facing South Africa.[27] This has led commentators to express concern that, if not encouraged to participate in electoral democracy, these young people may turn to more violent and extreme methods to push for change.[28]
As then-Sunday Times editor Ray Hartley noted in an article in October 2015: “The failure to address the problem of youth unemployment and education has spilled over to the streets where young people are disrupting the power narrative. Their next step will be onto the national political stage, where they will turn up the heat.”
The challenges in engaging with the South African youth – and in encouraging their participation in electoral democracy - are complex and multifaceted, and include:
- Mobility of young populations: Given that young people, especially students, often change their place of residence, ensuring that they are registered to vote in the voting district where they will be residing at the time of an election is a challenge. This also makes automatic registration (at the time of application for an ID document) problematic in that young people qualify for an ID document aged 16 when they are still primarily living at home and not yet of voting age. By the time they qualify to vote, two years will have passed and they are likely to have moved.
- Financial/human resources: Financial and human resources constraints which stand in the way of the implementation of a comprehensive and wide-scale community outreach to reach all young people in various social demographics. One example is the requests from young people at the Youth Summit are for regular gatherings of young people – funded by the Electoral Commission – to engage on issues of mutual concern. Social media and technology may, however, provide cheaper alternatives for large-scale and regular engagement.
- Technology: Advances in technology provide both opportunities and challenges and require constant re-evaluation of the selection of social media platforms and applications with greatest reach among users aged 16 to 30. For example, while Twitter and Facebook still meet this requirement, the continued use of other platforms in the campaign for the next general election may require further investigation due to their growing or dwindling subscriber figures. Some of the most popular social media applications and platforms in the 2014 campaign (including Mxit and Blackberry) had almost vanished just 18 months later in the 2016 campaign.
- Political disengagement: Tackling the political disengagement of young people and the change in values, where today’s young people no longer view voting as a civic duty, despite South Africa’s turbulent political history, is a task that cannot be undertaken solely by the Electoral Commission. While ‘deepening electoral democracy’ may form part of the Commission’s mandate, the lack of resources required to effectively engage with the millions of young South Africans requires a collaborative approach with civil society organisations, traditional leaders, communities and institutions of learning.
- Economic growth and employment: As noted by a number of surveys and reports quoted here, economic opportunities and especially employment are the primary concern of young people. Lack of employment has resulted in young people being among the most vulnerable in South Africa without access to key basic services and rights. Unless and until these basic “survival” rights such as food, clean water and shelter are provided, secondary rights such as political rights will remain less of a priority for this group.
5. Recommendations
- Embrace social media: Global active internet usage continues to grow by 10 per cent in 2016, adding 332 million more users, while Africa saw 42.7 million more active users being added. In South Africa, the number of people actively accessing the internet grew by 1.9 million from 24.9 million in January 2015 to 26.8 million in January 2016.[29] According to the 2017 edition of the SA Social Media Landscape, in 2017 social media will become an indispensable tool for South African marketers and politicians, artists and activists, reporters and media personalities alike. The year will see the use of as many as four social media platforms becoming pervasive marketing tools in South Africa.[30]
- Maximise partnerships: There are reasons for an EMB to champion efforts to turn around the decline in voting among the youth. These include increased political and social stability, enhanced accountability and greater trust and faith in the outcome of elections. These in turn usually also lead to higher economic growth through increased investment. However, due to the multifaceted complexity of the problem and limited resources of EMBs the solution requires action and partnership from a range of stakeholders. This includes political parties, the media, civil society organisations, traditional leaders, educators, youth role models, corporate organisations and others. Utisiling partnerships – including with commercial enterprises such as cellular telephone operators and social media companies – is a highly effective and cost-efficient way to reach young target audiences. The fundamental nation-building work of EMBs and the compelling social, political and economic benefits of deepening democracy also make partnership with an EMB highly attractive to corporate entities and frequently synergise with their own corporate social responsibility programmes.
- Increase accessibility: An EMB must continuously seek ways to reduce barriers (either perceived or real) to registration and voting, while constantly weighing up the advantages of such advances against the risks involved (including security, financial and legitimacy concerns). A study by the HRSC (IEC Voter Participation Survey 2013/14) showed that 7 per cent of all respondents feel that removing the registration process would prompt them to vote. A report by the Institute for Security Studies on voter participation in 2014 also strongly recommended the introduction of automatic registration to help address low youth participation.[31]
- Increase affordability: USSD has a low barrier to entry for subscribers and customers and works across all handsets. This is critically important as although there is exceptionally high penetration of cellular telephones in South Africa (65 per cent in January 2016) feature phones remain a large segment of the market especially among low-income users. And USSD tends to be cheaper for consumers. In addition, EMBs should consider free or subsidised calls to contact centres, free downloads of Apps and others sources of voter and democracy information, and sponsoring free WiFi at voting and registration stations to attract young people.
- Start young: Academic research indicates that most people’s basic outlooks and orientations are set fairly early on in life. One longitudinal study of Bennington College women found that “through late childhood and early adolescence, attitudes are relatively malleable…with the potential for dramatic change possible in late adolescence or early adulthood. [B]ut greater stability sets in at some early point, and attitudes tend to be increasingly persistent as people age.”[32] Pew Research Center surveys over the past two decades also have found compelling evidence that generations carry with them the imprint of early political experiences.[33] So encouraging civic education and participation in electoral democracy from an early age is likely to lead to higher levels of voter registration and election participation among young voters as they reach voting age.
Annex 1: About the authors
Laura Franz-Kamissoko is a writer and editor with experience in business-to-business news publications. She joined the Electoral Commission in 2013 after having profiled the female leadership of the organisation for the business publication CEO Magazine. She serves the Electoral Commission as deputy manager for its publications, website and social media, and internal communications function. She oversaw the day to day operations and development of the Electoral Commission’s award winning social media campaign for the 2014 and 2016 elections. She holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in civil law and communications, and an honours degree in publishing studies. Particular interests including producing high-quality publications for the Electoral Commission that communicate its messaging most effectively to stakeholders, and growing the organisation’s presence on social media platforms while engaging meaningfully with voters.
Marco Granelli is the Electoral Commission’s Senior Manager for Communications. In his role he oversees the development and implementation of internal and external communications strategies for the Electoral Commission. He led the communications team which implemented an award-winning social media and youth strategy for South Africa’s 2014 National and Provincial Elections and 2016 Municipal Elections. Before joining the Electoral Commission in 2013, he was the Group Executive for Marketing and Communications for the South African Revenue Service where he worked for almost 10 years in designing and implementing marketing and communications strategies. He also spent 11 years as a journalist between 1990 and 2002 where he was privileged to get a front row seat to the birth of democracy in South Africa. He holds a Bachelor of Journalism degree from Rhodes University, Grahamstown, and a Masters of Business Administration from Wits Business School, Johannesburg.
[1]Youth Leagues in SA: A poverty of options, Nickolaus Bauer, Mail & Guardian, 1 September 2011
[2] How Nelson Mandela's brave new country became an anti-youth machine, Ray Hartley, Sunday Times 25 October 2015
[3] Electoral Commission voter registration database 2016
[4] A baseline study of youth identity, the media and the public sphere in South Africa compiled by Vanessa
School of Journalism and Media Studies, Rhodes University, January 2013
[5] Ask Afrika research survey on youth participation in electoral democracy in South Africa conducted on behalf of the Electoral Commission 24 November to 8 December 2014
[6] Stats SA, Mid-year population estimates 2016 (Statistical release P0302)
[7] Electoral Commission voter registration database 2016
[8] Stats SA, Mid-year population estimates 2016(Statistical release P0302)
[9] Electoral Commission voter registration database 2015
[10] A baseline study of youth identity, the media and the public sphere in South Africa compiled by Vanessa Malila, School of Journalism and Media Studies, Rhodes University, January 2013
[11] Discouraged workers include those who have stopped looking for employment.
[12] Born frees is a term used to identify those South Africans born after the end of apartheid in South Africa. It usually refers to those born after 1990.
[13] Candidate statistics from the Electoral Commission’s database for 2014 national and provincial elections
[14] See above
[15] Candidate statistics from the Electoral Commission’s database for 2016 Municipal Elections
[16] Youth Leagues in SA: A poverty of options, Nickolaus Bauer, Mail & Guardian, 1 September 2011
[17] A baseline study of youth identity, the media and the public sphere in South Africa compiled by Vanessa Malila School of Journalism and Media Studies, Rhodes University, January 2013
[18] How Nelson Mandela's brave new country became an anti-youth machine, Ray Hartley, Sunday Times 25 October 2015
[19] The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996
[20] Electoral Commission Act 51 of 1996
[21] 2014 National Youth Summit Report and Draft National Youth Agenda http://events.elections.org.za/ElectoralCommi/Lists/Papers/AllItems.aspx (Accessed on 7 December 2016)
[22] South African Social Attitudes Survey, Human Sciences Research Council, http://www.hsrc.ac.za/en/news/view/trends-democracy-satisfaction (Accessed on 8 December 2016)
[23] Voter Participation Survey 2013 and Voter Participation Survey 2015, Human Sciences Research Council as commissioned by the Electoral Commission
[24] Ask Afrika research survey on youth participation in electoral democracy in South Africa conducted on behalf of the Electoral Commission 24 November to 8 December 2014
[25] Electoral Commission Contact Centre statistics 2016
[26] Draft Municipal Elections Report 2016, Electoral Commission (scheduled for publication in first quarter 2017)
[27] Vulnerable Groups Series I: The Social Profile of Youth, 2009–2014. Statistics South Africa, http://www.statssa.gov.za/?p=6395 (Accessed on 8 December 2016)
[28] South Africa in flux as youth gear up, Imraan Buccus, The Mercury, 2 June 2016
[29] Digital in 2016, http://wearesocial.com/special-reports/digital-in-2016 (Accessed 8 December 2016)
[30] The SA Social Media Landscape, published by World Wide Worx and Ornico, September 2016, http://www.worldwideworx.com/social-media-indispensable-sa-brands-2017/ (Accessed on 7 December 2016)
[31] Voter participation in the South African elections of 2014, Collette Schulz-Herzenberg, Institute for Security Studies, Policy Brief 61, August 2014
[32] Political Attitudes Over the Life Span: The Bennington Women After Fifty Years By Duane Francis Alwin, Ronald Lee Cohen, Theodore Mead Newcomb, University of Wisconsin Press, 1991
[33] The politics of American generations: How age affects attitudes and voting behaviour, Drew Desilver, Pew Research Center, July 19 2014 http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/07/09/the-politics-of-american-generations-how-age-affects-attitudes-and-voting-behavior/ (Accessed on 8 December 2016)
