‘What we have now is not enough… it is not our idea of democracy. What we are calling for in 2024 is a readiness for the counter-revolution.”

These were the opening remarks of Equal Education’s Noncedo Madubedube at the Maverick Citizen town hall debate held at the Human Rights Festival at Constitution Hill on Saturday.

The event, with the theme “Seize the Power”, continued the conversation about electoral reform in South Africa, educating, creating a platform for and fostering dialogue and debate about democratic processes such as elections.

The 2023 Human Rights Festival at Constitutional Hill. (Photo: Mark Heywood)

Next year, 2024, will mark 30 years of democracy in South Africa. It is also the year of a national election. While much has changed since 1994, much has remained the same. And so, many in civil society have asked what the 2024 general elections will mean for a country that is in the throes of several crises.

According to Madubedube, “One clear thing is that the majority of young people in South Africa want a new [alternative]… they want to do this by paying respect to the intergenerational differences linking them to all human rights.”

Read more in Daily Maverick: There can be no renaissance for SA without abandoning the National Democratic Revolution

‘2024 is our 1994’

For Tebogo Moalusi of Rise Mzansi, 2024 represents the new 1994.

People demonstrate at the Human Rights Festival, Constitutional Hill. (Photo: Mark Heywood)

“Things must change. We have run out of time and the real question we must ask ourselves is: What is the cost of doing nothing? That, for me, is a scary prospect. We cannot wait until 2029 to try again. By that time, things would have deteriorated so badly that it will be difficult to turn the ship around. That is why 2024 is our 1994 and bigger.”

Moalusi added that for Rise Mzansi there were four key issues: young people, ideas, resources, and proximity to office, power and influence. He said: “Whoever we vote in power must use these key issues and … take the country forward.”

Young people’s participation in elections

A study by the University of Johannesburg Centre for Social Change identified a trend of low and declining turnout among young and first-time voters in the 2021 local government elections.

The study found: “Of the nearly 1.8 million 18- to 19-year-olds who were eligible to vote in the last election, 90% did not register. Similarly, less than 20% of the population aged 20 to 35 registered to vote, this in contrast to over 90% of the population aged 40 registering to vote.”

While the lack of voter participation of young people has been a growing concern, the reasons why young people do not participate in elections are complex.

Human Rights Festival, Constitutional Hill. (Photo: Mark Heywood)

Bongani Tladi, an activist with the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, said a key issue was a lack of knowledge among the younger generation

“In poorer communities, there are no IEC officials to educate local communities; as a result, there is little to no information about what is voting or why you should vote, and hence there is no willingness to participate from the younger generation.”

What needs to change?

Palesa Malinga, a student at Wits University, asked: “Why do we talk about the importance of voting when it is close to time?”

Palesa Malinga, ENC Wits leader and a co-founder of Matibe Malinga Foundation. (Photo: Meseret Argaw)

Malinga said that to get more young people and people in general to the ballot box there was a need to:

• Remove the idea that everyone understands what voting is; and
• Consistently educate on political literacy, the state of the country and voting rights.

Nicolene Trom of the Umntu Ngumntu Ngabantu Foundation said communities needed to be mobilised to be self-reliant and less dependent on the government to initiate the changes they would like to see happening. Trom argued that ubuntu would get South Africa to where it needs to be as a nation.

Human Rights Festival, Constitutional Hill. (Photo: Mark Heywood)

“We cannot speak [about] democracy if it is not informed by ubuntu, nor can we speak [about] economics that sustains that democracy if it is not informed by ubuntu. We have seen how our country has been decaying because we as young people took a step back and entrusted our future to the people that are in their future.

“What we need to do now is look into things that have happened in our country and unite. Together we are an extension of each other and need to revert to who we are. We need a system that works for everyone. A system that is our currency is ubuntu,” Trom said.

“Your struggle is good enough to start talking to each other about ways to change it. The people first.. that’s how we build power,” Madubedube concluded. DM/MC