Gen Z faces a ‘happiness versus reality equation’ ahead of elections:
As South Africa marks 30 years since democracy, a new report by Flux Trends has found that Gen Z finds it hard to connect with activism and political spaces.
The trend analyst group, in partnership with youth agency Student Village, surveyed 30 young people and asked them 30 questions to mark 30 years of democracy.
The 30/30/30 project report delved into the mindsets driving South Africa’s Gen Zs’ attitude about the future of democracy and their place in it,as citizens, consumers, workers and individuals.
“This report gave us an in-depth view and a nuanced understanding of what young people believe is important to them ahead of the elections,” said researcher Bronwyn Williams.
The report found that the majority of young people either refused to register to vote because they believed it did not make a difference or were contemplating which political party to vote for.
“There is no political party at the moment that is attractive to this demographic and most of the young people have little faith that politics will make any drastic change in their day-to-day actions,” Williams said.
During visits to universities in Johannesburg, most young people told the Mail & Guardian that they felt the majority of the political parties were not prioritising the interests of the youth.
“Most young people follow aesthetics and trends when it comes to making decisions but those that do go and do their research, like me, find that most of these political parties are making it less about us and more about their vengeance or winning streak and that is very problematic,” said Nolwazi Mahlangu, a 23-year-old master’s student at the University of the Witwatersrand.
The Flux Trends survey warns that because young people are undecided about their voting choices, they could fall into the pattern of voting for parties that they associate with generational democracy.
“This generation has a strong activism presence and they can be catalysts for change but now we see them following routine by following the same political parties – this shows our society is broken,” Williams said.
It has been 30 years since South Africa held its first democratic election and while the youth led the movement for a free and equal society, the 30/30/30 report found that Gen Z faces the “happiness vs reality equation”.
“The expectations 30 years ago were higher; they needed to make changes. However, the youth of today seem more cynical and their expectations are lower, which makes it easier to meet, and they seem content with what they receive,” Williams said.
Gen Z activism group So We Vote has attributed the change in the youth perception of the elections to the quality of leadership.
“There was no complexity in that [first democratic] election because the choice was that clear, and also the quality of leadership available then gave people a sense that South Africa’s best days lay ahead. Today, there is no obvious choice that is inherently evil because the situation we live in is so complex that you don’t know who you trust,” said So We Vote director Otsile Nkadimeng.
Williams cautioned that South Africa could face a similar crisis to China, should the youth not become active citizens.
China faced an economic decline after the government introduced the one-child policy – even though it was scrapped in 2016 and replaced with a three-child limit.
Reacting to this, a 19-year-old student from the University of Johannesburg said they don’t believe South Africa will face such an issue because “with us, it is not about numbers but more about voter knowledge”.
According to Statistics SA, young people (aged 18 to 34) constitute 35% or 20.9 million of the population of South Africa. But, based on statistics from the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), only 11.7 million voters in this cohort are on the voters’ roll.
“The introduction of the online self-service voter registration modality has contributed to the increased rate of registration by younger voters in the country, as well as by citizens who are residents outside of the Republic,” the IEC’s chief electoral officer, Sy Mamabolo, said at a media briefing in Pretoria in March.
This comes after the IEC held its second mass voter registration in February and opened 23 296 voting stations nationwide to increase voter turnout. The first voter registration weekend was held in November. The IEC said it recorded 27.79 million voters — the highest 1994.
Security cluster will leave ‘nothing to chance’ in upcoming general elections:
With only 30 days left until South Africans head to the polls, the government has put measures in place to protect all public facilities, national key points and other essential infrastructure that criminal elements might target.
This is according to Defence Minister Thandi Modise, who was addressing a briefing held by the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security (JCPS) cluster, to outline its state of readiness for the upcoming general elections on 29 May.
Anyone found guilty of damaging essential infrastructure could be sentenced to up to 30 years if found guilty, she said. “As the government, we want to issue a stern warning to anyone with intentions to disrupt the elections that the law enforcement officers will deal with them decisively and will put them behind bars.”
No one has a right to intimidate and prevent others from exercising their constitutional right to vote for a party of their choice. “We want to assure the public of the readiness of the JCPS cluster to execute its mandate of protecting the public, our country’s strategic installations and infrastructure during the election period. We will do everything in our power to protect all those who want to exercise their constitutional right to vote.”
Modise said that the general elections are believed to be the most contested in the country’s history. Overall, 70 political parties are contesting the elections, 11 independent candidates, and the national contestants are 52. In total, there are over 14 903 candidates vying for 887 seats in the national and provincial legislatures.
“Ensuring the safety and security of all voters and officials is of paramount importance”, she said.
The approach of the JCPS cluster is to ensure coordinated and intelligence-led planning and operations before, during, and after the elections, where multi-departmental teams work together to ensure that all South Africans exercise their constitutional rights without fear of intimidation or violence, she said.
This coordination is managed by National and Provincial Joints (Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure) structures of the JCPS cluster and the Independent Electoral Commission, Modise said, adding that inter-departmental priority committees were established last year at both the national and provincial levels for safety and security planning.
“Our law enforcement agencies have led in developing the national security plan, which has been approved by the ministers of the JCPS cluster. Natjoints [National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure] has done a thorough threat and crime pattern analysis to inform the development of a security plan and they want to ensure that nothing is left to chance.”
Modise said that based on the threat and crime pattern analysis, Natjoints had recommended a fit-for-purpose deployment plan that will deal with any potential threats of crime and violence in and around voting stations and national and provincial results centres.
“We have also put measures in place to protect all public facilities that will be used for voting, national key points and other essential infrastructure that might be targeted by criminal elements.”
The Criminal Matters Amendment Act states that any person who tampers with or damages essential infrastructure is guilty of a criminal offence and he/she can be sentenced to a maximum of 30 years if found guilty.
“The South African Police Service (SAPS) Ministry and SAPS management have conducted several oversite roadshows in all provinces where they met with the station commanders of all police stations and district commissioners to assess the SAPS state of readiness and preparedness to ensure safety and security.
The management of SAPS and the Ministry are satisfied with the level of readiness of all the provinces and districts to provide policing services before, during and after the elections, she said.
The elections will be policed within the relevant prescripts and laws and police officers will enforce the law accordingly. Modise added that the security plan would be constantly reviewed as the situation changes and said they will adapt as required.
“As the JCPS cluster leadership, we want to send a clear message to the public that no incitement to violence, lawlessness, destruction of infrastructure, or barricading of roads will be tolerated,” the minister said, warning that anyone who takes part in any form of criminal activity will be dealt with.
Political rights for citizens are guaranteed and Modise said that the JCPS will ensure that all the rights enshrined in the constitution are not violated. Among these rights are the rights to freedom, security, and protection from all forms of violence from either public or private sources.
“Although the constitution allows all citizens to participate in protests, pickets and present petitions, those who participate in these activities must do so peacefully and not violate the rights of those who do not want to participate,” the minister added.
Anyone found to be in contravention of these important provisions of the constitution during this critical time will be met with the full authority of the state, she said.
| The six-month planned shutdown of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project Tunnel will not cause any disruption of water supply to Rand Water and to Gauteng municipalities and other provinces that are its customers.
The Lesotho Highlands Tunnel will be closed from 1 October to 31 March for scheduled maintenance. “This much-needed maintenance is critical to maintain the integrity of the delivery tunnels as a tunnel failure will risk the transfer of the 780 million cubic metres per annum into the Integrated Vaal River System (IVRS) from which Rand Water draws water to supply to its customers,” said Sean Phillips, the director-general of the department of the water and sanitation, at a briefing on Friday. During the maintenance shutdown in 2019, it was found that the steel liners in the tunnel urgently needed extensive maintenance on both the South African and Lesotho side. The work needed during the shutdown period includes grit-blasting the steel-lined section around the entire circumference reapplying corrosion protection on the tunnel lining, and other maintenance and repair work identified during the 2019 shutdown. “The six-month period required to conduct maintenance is crucial to avoid any catastrophic event which may result from a lack of maintenance,” he said, noting that this work is expected to protect the infrastructure for another 20 or 30 years. According to Phillips, because of the tunnel shutdown, 700 million m3 per year will be transferred in 2024, which is 80 million m3 less than the normal annual transfer volume. After the shutdown period, the water transfers will be increased to enable that shortfall in transfers to be recovered. In May last year, the department undertook an analysis to assess the risk to the IVRS’ performance because of the outage – and to determine the effects of the shutdown on water availability to users in South Africa. This analysis indicated that the effects of the outage on the overall IVRS will be “insignificant” considering that at this time the dams in the IVRS such as the Sterkfontein Dam and others are relatively full, he said. “This means that the closure of the tunnel for maintenance will not result in any disruption of water supply to Rand Water and to the municipalities in Gauteng and other provinces which are customers of Rand Water.: The standard operating rule is that Sterkfontein Dam releases water to the Vaal Dam when the Vaal Dam reaches a minimum operating level of 18%. The department’s analysis indicates that this is unlikely to occur at any probability level in the 2023/2024 operating year. “Hence, releases from the Sterkfontein Dam to support the Vaal Dam are not envisaged for the current 2023/2024 operating year and Sterkfontein Dam remains full to date.” Further analysis will be undertaken in May to ensure there are also no likely risks to water supply from the IVRS in the 2024/2025 operating year. “The fact that the Sterkfontein Dam is full means that it can provide a reserve supply of water to top up the Vaal Dam as needed.” Since 2021, he said the department has been “continuously holding meetings with stakeholders to discuss action plans compiled by the municipalities and the stakeholders, to mitigate any challenges and bottlenecks as the planned maintenance programme is implemented”. In a letter sent to Minister of Water and Sanitation, Senzo Mchunu, and Phillips earlier this month on the closure of the tunnel, the Water Crisis Committee noted that the growing intricacy of the ongoing water crisis in Johannesburg has raised “significant concerns”, prompting the need for coordinated efforts from the department, Rand Water, Johannesburg Water, municipalities, and civil society to address the challenges effectively. The committee was formed in October last year by Johannesburg residents deeply affected by prolonged and unexplained water shortages. “We acknowledge that the department of … is liaising with municipalities and has devised plans to ensure continuous water supply during the shutdown,” read the letter. “To prevent misinformation and fear-mongering, it is crucial to inform all water consumers well in advance and encourage prudent planning for the period of disruption. The Water Crisis Committee’s priority is to ensure citizens are well-informed, prepared, and have access to essential water for dignified living.” Phillips added that the planned closure of the tunnel for maintenance will not have any effect on the ongoing construction of Phase II of the Lesotho Highlands Project. He said that the main contracts for the new dam and the tunnel were awarded in October 2022. “The contractors are on site, and the project is on track to start delivering additional water into the IVRS in 2028.” |
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