Analysis | Appalling voter turnout a result of citizens losing faith in democracy
It is the lowest voter turnout since the dawn of democracy, with only about 12 million of about 26 million of about 26 million registered voters casting their ballot on November 1.
A consistently low voter turnout – even in national elections – is on the cards if the governing ANC fails to self-correct as it has been promising, and especially if the opposition parties fail to convince voters that they are a viable option.Political analyst Ongama Mtimka says that our political and economic systems are too exclusionary. He says that when people feel like they are not included in the economic processes of the country, they do not tend to value democracy for its sake.
To avoid people losing faith in the democratic processes and the stages that follow, Mtimka says it is important to include the people in the economy. “When your party fills up Orlando Stadium, those who are at home will want to stand up and want to be part of it. There was no such thing for these elections,” he said.“There must be two parties fighting. If the other party is not fighting, the match becomes unexciting. The man [ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa] is just not exciting. It is very boring to fight against him. It looks like you are attacking an innocent person. The president doesn’t bring excitement in politics.
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