Cape Town - As South Africans cast their votes in the local government elections on Monday, voters who participated in South Africa’s the first democratic election reflected on how enthusiasm for voting had waned over the years.
Widaad Saiet who recalled being over the moon when he voted for first time in 1994, felt that the outcome of this election would have been much better had there been more time spent on the overall preparation for election day.
“Voting in 1994 for the first time was exciting for all because we finally had a chance to have our say as coloured people, and came in droves, queues were extremely long and I remember vividly that it was a very hot day.”
“The voting stations were well organized and things went smoothly; due to the excitement people stood for hours in queues because they got their chance to make their crosses. The majority voted ANC because of the promises made although those promises were never kept.”
He since then things had gone “downhill” with glitches such as shortage of ballot papers and some people being unable to vote because their names were not on the voter’s roll
“We had one day to make our mark, thousands hadn't had the chance to. This was definitely not a fair chance, one would think that over the years experience would be gained, but clearly with our current government anything can be expected. I'm sure if people had more time or if it was spread over 2 days the outcome would be better. Government really needs to look at their structure when it comes to voting,” said Saiet.
Executive director at the Human Research Council Narnia Bohler-Muller said that the reason why many voters were not excited about the elections was because nothing much had changed since the advent of democracy.
“If you picture the snaking queues of our first democratic elections in 1994 and the millions of free South Africans who cast their first votes it feels nostalgic. We haven't had that same feeling since then. The euphoria and hope seems to have slowly faded.”
“The problem is that nothing much has changed since the advent of democracy. Or at least there is a general perception amongst the adult public that nothing much has changed and that the promises of those early days of post-apartheid democracy have remained unfulfilled.”
“There is a sense of disillusionment about democracy and our research has shown that trust in democracy and democratic institutions and processes has declined substantially, especially since 2009, reaching an all time low in 2021.
“This is one of the reasons that could be given for the lowest voter turnout in an election since 1994. This disillusionment and distrust, mixed with a fear of Covid - 19, dissatisfaction with service delivery and anger about corruption, has led to a muted local government election turnout, especially amongst the youth,” said Muller.
Going forward Muller says there is a need for an “open conversation” should take place.
“There is a need for open conversations about whether the electoral system needs reform and how we can change the way we do things to get better results on the ground. We cannot merely wait for change, we need to act to achieve the change we want to see,” said Muller.
Weekend Argus