Pretoria - While election day presented an opportunity for millions of citizens to exercise their democratic right to vote, to some young people voting was just not worth the trouble anymore.
Among them was a group of young people in Soshanguve, who spent their day smoking hubbly bubbly and sharing jokes and stories yesterday, saying “voting in the past did not change their lives”.
The youngsters said their biggest frustration was unemployment, and according to them, promises of employment and opportunities made in the past which did not materialise.
Fana Magabaza, 28, said: “Politicians do not care about us, but their pockets and families. Year after year you just watch yourself plunge deeper into poverty, and all they do is show up to your home when it is time to vote.
“I am not voting anymore because that is how you set yourself up for disappointment, because sooner or later you will realise that the only jobs they are creating are Expanded Public Works Programme initiatives, which do not last. What can you do for your family with a stipend? Nothing.”
Peter Zwane, 32, said opportunities in South Africa were only for those people who were “connected”.
“I am not crazy. I am not going to waste my time voting for people who just care about themselves. They do not even know how to create real jobs. Crime is rife because people are desperate. We are tired.
“We do not even have the time and energy to protest anymore because they have become used to protests that nothing changes. We just end up with dirty roads blocked with burnt tyres and rubble, but the politicians and the directors still live smoothly in their fancy suburbs.”
Kamogelo Mathebula said he would vote after a decade when all the old people were gone, because a lot of them treated politics like a religion and did not care about latest developments or principles, but just voted for who they had always voted for.
“For me these people are the real problem and I believe when they are gone there will be more conscious voting and parties will work harder knowing young people are not going to vote for a party for just loyalty,” he added.
Pretoria News