South Africa’s ‘born frees’, children born after the country’s 1994 elections, make their way to vote for the first time in the community of Mabheleni in Kwazulu-Natal. Credit: GCIS/CC by 2.0

By Rebekah Funk
CAPE TOWN, May 15 2014 (IPS)

On Tuesday international ratings agency, Moody’s, rated South Africa a credit positive, saying that the results of last week’s general election ensured a continuity of the country’s macroeconomic policy. But the success of the left-wing Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) tells a different story of the country’s economic inequalities.

Often seen in a trademark red beret, the EFF’s founder Julius Malema has emerged as a left-wing revolutionary, promising the nationalisation of mines and banks, expropriation of land to black South Africans, job creation through protected industrial development, and free education, healthcare, housing and sanitation.“ Julius Malema tapped into a niche constituency of disgruntled ANC voters, young people struggling to get jobs and workers battling to make ends meet." -- political scientist, Professor Adam Habib

At only eight months old, the EFF were able to secure 25 seats in parliament, ranking third overall with about 1.2 million votes in the May 7 general election.

Malema is a former  African National Congress (ANC) Youth League leader who was expelled from its ranks in 2012 amid accusations of hate speech against white South Africans, causing division with the party, money laundering, fraud, racketeering and tax evasion.

South Africa’s government adopted the National Development Plan in 2012, which was meant to be a blueprint for economic development. According to a report by tralac, an organisation developing trade-related capacity, the plan “has become the cornerstone of the government’s policy in addressing objectives such as increasing employment, reducing poverty and inequality …”

However, an ongoing strike by the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union members, has highlighted the income disparity on South Africa’s mines. The strike for higher wages has been characterised by violence, intimidation and killings. Tensions were visible at Lonmin’s North West platinum mine this week as miners wielding traditional weapons reportedly barricaded roads to prevent fellow strikes from returning to work. On Thursday, local media reported that many of the miners appeared to be apparent EFF supporters as they were dressed in T-shirts emblazoned with Malema’s face.

But Malema’s EFF is a platform that appeals to those falling through the cracks under the current system, says Professor Adam Habib, a political scientist from Johannesburg’s University of the Witwatersrand.

“Malema tapped into a niche constituency of disgruntled ANC voters, young people struggling to get jobs and workers battling to make ends meet,” he tells IPS.

But Habib argues the EFF’s respectable showing was little more than a protest vote in many cases.

“Many citizens do not take Malema seriously. EFF voters do not vote for him because they think he’s a credible president; they vote for him to spite the ANC, and to send a message to the ruling political elite.”

The ruling ANC could face some serious trouble if the party fails to look forward — and inward.

Jacob Zuma’s ruling party has been marred by scandal and crippled by its failure to deliver on many of its promises.

It’s left many — the young, poor, marginalised and long-time ANC supporters — deeply dissatisfied and disillusioned. Many didn’t vote, or defected from the ANC to parties that are vocal in offering radical change.

Habib says if the ANC hopes to regain trust and mobilise the millions of young “born frees” who have grown up in an age of democracy, politicians will need to stress its commitment to the future rather than its part in overthrowing the old apartheid regime.

“We have to appeal to them and their interests,” Habib says of the untapped youth electorate.

“The vast majority of them are poor and marginalised. A party has to have a message that provides them with a future … a message of inclusion, of addressing inequality, and of providing people with a job and a decent living standard — but it must also be a message of modernity, of being citizens of the 21^st century,” he says.

“Until they do, they will not galvanise this generation.”

The community of Mabheleni in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa, make their way to vote on May 7, 2014, after 20 years of democracy. Credit: GCIS/CC by 2.0

Banking on its apartheid struggle credentials and the legacy of former president Nelson Mandela, the ANC has been the preferred party of much of the electorate since the beginnings of democracy in 1994.

It clinched 62 percent of the vote but lost key ground in former ANC strongholds such as Gauteng province.

It’s time politicians looked long and hard at their current behaviour, argues Habib, since support for the ANC is at a historical low.

“The ANC’s four percent decline should be a wake-up call for the ruling elite, especially after the four percent decline in 2009. If this is not enough, the scare … should shake it from its complacency.”

This complacency was no more apparent than during the lead up to elections, when Zuma was quoted as saying only the “clever” middle classes cared about the scandals surrounding multi-million dollar “security upgrades” to his Nkandla retirement homestead.

Habib calls the 2014 elections a mere “curtain raiser for the real game” for what’s to come in five years. It’s a sentiment reflected by political commentators like Professor Steven Friedman, who acts as director of the Centre for the Study of Democracy at Rhodes University and the University of Johannesburg.

“The ANC acknowledged that many of its supporters were unhappy with leaders who … seemed more interested in looking after themselves than voters,” Friedman says, adding the party has lost key support among unionists at the Congress of South African Trade Unions and its once-energetic youth league.

“This election did not challenge the ANC’s dominance at the polls. But if the result convinces its leaders that they no longer have to worry about the problems caused by politicians who put themselves before the country, it may open the way for far more competition in the next election than we have seen in this one,” Friedman tells IPS.

Nhlalala Rithatso, a third-year student from Limpopo at the University of Cape Town campus. Credit: Rebekah Funk/IPS.

By Rebekah Funk
CAPE TOWN , May 5 2014 (IPS)

South Africa’s May 7 elections mark the first time in democratic history that those born into Nelson Mandela’s post-apartheid ‘Rainbow Nation’ can vote.

While these so-called “born frees” make up about two million of the country’s 31.4 million eligible voters, dismal registration numbers have both politicians and analysts puzzled at the youths’ seeming lack of political interest.The 18 to 20-year-olds have no living memory of the country’s anti-apartheid struggle but face mammoth struggles of their own.

The 18 to 20-year-olds have no living memory of the country’s anti-apartheid struggle but face mammoth struggles of their own: crippling unemployment, institutional corruption, gangs, violent crime, HIV/Aids, income inequality and a lack of access to education.

Yet only a third (about 683,000) of eligible born-frees have registered to cast their ballot, according to South Africa’s Independent Electoral Commission.

Experts say it’s unclear whether this lack of interest stems from apathy, a seemingly international trend among young people, or something else entirely.

“Youth likely see their political activities and social responsibilities in a fundamentally different way than their parents’ and grandparents’ generations did,” says University of the Witwatersrand vice-chancellor and principal Prof Adam Habib.

“Apathy…is a global trend. South Africa’s youth are no different than American, British, European or Indian youth. It would be unfair to call them apolitical as a whole.”

Young people do not often view voting or political activism as a duty, Habib adds, partly because they’re disappointed in the lack of progress made during the past 20 years of democracy.

“People feel dislocated. They feel politicians do not speak to their interests. They feel [voting] doesn’t make a difference.”

He calls South Africa’s current rates of youth unemployment and income inequality “precarious” and cautions that politicians need to deal with these issues if they hope to woo a seemingly apathetic youth vote.

With more than 40 percent of South Africa’s total population under the age of 20, Habib says it’s crucial for political parties to re-evaluate their platforms and address the needs of young people.

Born-frees, he notes, will make up about a third of voters when the next general election is due in 2019.

“[The Born Frees’] impact is going to be fundamentally changing the way society thinks, the way society behaves, the way society reflects its challenges, the way society protests against its atrocities,” Habib says.

“Do you know what they’re thinking? Do you know what they want? Do you know if the system you’re putting forward can address their concerns?”

He notes it will take more than text messages, Youtube ads and social media campaigns to reach young voters — particularly when a recent survey by independent researchers at FutureFact revealed 64 percent of respondents had “little or no interest” in politics (based on a survey of 262 born-frees from urban and rural areas).

Twenty-year-old Xolisa Ngcwabe is one of the born-frees who won’t be voting come Wednesday.

Currently completing his Grade 12 education at a college in Cape Town, Ngcwabe says the current political system has failed young people.

“I don’t really care about voting because I don’t think my vote makes a difference,” he says.

“The government has to deliver and it hasn’t been doing that,” Ngcwabe says of the ANC’s failure to provide basic necessities like running water, school textbooks and functioning toilets to impoverished informal settlements and townships.

It seems Ngcwabe is one of many growing disillusioned with President Jacob Zuma and the ruling African National Congress (ANC).

FutureFact statistics show that about 70 percent of respondents felt the ANC was moving away from the democratic principles it fought so hard to implement, while 75 percent were pessimistic about South Africa’s future due to the government’s lack of accountability and its ability to implement policy decisions.

Struggle credentials — often stressed among political parties vying for support — hold little pull for born-free voters, according to political expert Prof Susan Booysen.

“Focus group conversations amongst the youth — and particularly the black-African youth — rarely raised the liberation struggle and a need to reward the ANC for the freedom gained,” writes Booysen in a report entitled ‘Twenty years of South African democracy: Citizen views of human rights, governance and the political system’.

Political parties should take note, she says: born-frees like 20-year-old Alexandra Goldberg aren’t interested in the past.

“I feel like the government generally doesn’t know what it’s doing and blaming apartheid is a defence mechanism,” the University of Cape Town student says.

“It’s very frustrating. Let’s move on from it and actually have a goal here.”

It’s this frustration that’s pushed Goldberg to the polls, along with some advice from her father.

“My dad made a good point — that if you don’t vote then you can’t complain. With the history of South Africa and voting, it seems like a bit of a slap in the face if you don’t vote. There was so much fighting for it.”

Nineteen-year-old Victor Hlatshwayo from Vereeniging, Gauteng agrees.

“I want a choice. I heard not voting is a vote for the ANC. I’m checking out all the parties, seeing what they’re saying and what they’re actually doing.”