Youth vote in 2024 elections can change SA’s path

The 2024 general election – date yet to be confirmed – may seem far off for ordinary folk, but that is not the case for political parties, who will in earnest begin to campaign to have your X next to their name on the ballot paper.

This weekend, the real work for the ANC begins at its 111th celebrations, which are held annually as the January 8 Statement.

There, they will outline their programme for the year and, much of this, as political analyst Dr Levy Ndou observes, will focus on how ordinary citizens are going to respond to the party in 2024’s poll.

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On the other hand, the Democratic Alliance (DA) is gearing up for its federal congress in a few months’ time, where new leaders will be elected.

As Ndou says, the main opposition should elect leaders who will be acceptable to different races “and they will have to put a lot of focus on their election machinery”.

While we will hear from all political players how they are planning to “create jobs”, “reduce levels of crime”, “grow the economy”; “reduce the inflation”, etc, they first have to listen to the voice of the people and ensure that young people participate in the elections.

The youth continue to bear the brunt of unemployment in the country and, as a result, tend to stay away from the polls in numbers, probably because they cannot see how voting will improve their lot.

According to Statistics SA, 55% of 15 to 34 year olds have no jobs – a situation that needs to change.

We, however, implore the youth to exercise their hard-earned democratic right to vote.

READ MORE: ‘People don’t vote for the sake of voting’: Citizens hold the power in 2024 elections

The youth, like the rest of the electorate, have power in their hands.

The choice is theirs to either keep the ANC in power, or to choose whichever party they believe has the potential to right all the wrongs we are currently seeing.

Boycotting the elections will be their undoing.