IEC failing SA voters who still remain vulnerable to abuse by political parties

By: Siyabulela Jentile

As the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) continues to fail in its mandate to sensitize the general population about the importance of voting and prioritizing maximum electoral participation, the electorate remains exposed to abuse by political parties.

Electoral behavior, just like general human behavior, can be influenced either through manipulation or inspiration, and we have already started seeing signs of manipulation by some leaders of political parties who tell people that should they not vote for them, social grants will be scrapped.

#NotInMyName warns against shrugging off the responsibility of voter education and deliberately passing it to political parties, especially in the townships and rural areas where little to no voter education happens. This negligence, while it can be attributed to the IEC’s remarkable ineptitude to deliver on its constitutional mandate, it also speaks to our collective unwillingness to stimulate and consolidate our own democracy.

The past local and national government elections give us a clear indication of what to expect in the 2024 NPE unless some drastic change occurs in our collective attitude towards electoral education. For example, the youth has lost all faith in the democratic processes due to the government’s failure to address their structural and systematic challenges, and thus withdrawing participation in protest – to reject a system that does very little to address their concerns. This has led to a consistent decline in youth electoral participation, a decline often attributed to the so called “apathy” – an uninformed narrative that seeks to give the impression that the youth of South Africa does not possess civic conscience.

There is an urgent need to embark on a robust mass civic engagement and voter education drive to educate the electorate about the powers they possess through the constitution, and the regressive consequences of abstaining from participatory democracy as a form of protest. Dialogues on electoral participation need to move away from the ivory towers and the confines of trends and mainstream politics to ground swell mass-based participation. Delegating this task to politicians and political parties alone must be frowned upon, outright rejected, and ultimately corrected.

As we look ahead into yet another voter registration weekend (03 – 04 February 2024) for the 2024 national and provincial elections, we wish to encourage the South African citizens to never allow discontent with the electoral system or governance failures to take away their democratic right to embrace the privilege of democracy. All eligible persons must take this opportunity to register online to vote. Furthermore, we call on churches, schools, and other places of mass gatherings to use their platforms to educate and encourage maximum electoral participation. It is a matter of life and death, literally.

*Siyabulela Jentile is president of Not In My Name International