A Voter Participation Survey (VPS) conducted by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) has revealed that despite knowing it was the duty of all citizens to vote, at least 69% of South Africans believed their individual vote would “make no difference”.
The VPS was conducted from August to October this year with 3,024 South Africans, aged 16 years and older in private households across the country.
Political discontent and disillusionment emerged as the main reason for electorate absenteeism at the polls.
The survey also looked at the diverse attitudes of young South Africans who planned to abstain or were uncertain about voting in the National and Provincial Elections in 2024.
It found that 83% of youth in KwaZulu-Natal and 80% in Gauteng said they distrusted the national government.
About 80% of youth in KwaZulu-Natal and 78% in Gauteng said they distrusted the provincial government, while 77% of youth in both provinces expressed their distrust in political parties.
The research revealed that overall in South Africa, 80% of youth distrusted the national government, 77% distrusted the provincial government and 76% expressed their distrust in political parties.
Close to half of the youth cohort in the survey (47%) said they were disinterested in elections, 36% said they had low interest and only 16% said they were very interested.
According to the research, those youth planning on abstaining from the elections, or were still undecided, were deeply discontent with the functioning of democracy and political institutions.
From their perspective, convincing them to turn up at the polls, would require responding to their material needs in the form of decent jobs, quality services and capable and ethical leadership.
While this is beyond the mandate of the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), the research found it spoke more to the accountability of the political system.
The research found the sense of political efficacy was very weak among the electorate.
69% believed their vote made no difference and 78% believed that after being elected, all political parties were the same, so voting was pointless.
Only 11% believed political parties were delivering on their promises.
Further, the research also revealed that 47% struggled to find a party that represented their needs, while 60% said that party coalitions made them less likely to want to vote.
kailene.pillay@inl.co.za
IOL