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7/27/2019 Youth Consultation on the 2nd Annual High Level Dialogue on Governance and Democracy in Africa: Trends, Chall…
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/youth-consultation-on-the-2nd-annual-high-level-dialogue-on-governance-and 1/6
1
SOUTH AFRICA
Youth Consultation on the 2nd
Annual High LevelDialogue on Governance and Democracy in Africa:
Trends, Challenges and Prospects
Theme: Enhancing Cons t i tu t ional ism and Rule of Law in
Afr ica
Written by: Gcobani Qambela
Bokamoso Leadership Forum
Website: http://www.bokamosoafrica.org
Contact number: +27766095973
Baxolise Siseko Dlali
Executive Director: Masifunde Together (Lead Organisation)
UNFPA Youth Advisor | RSA Parliament Ambassador
[email protected] (www.fluxsa.co.za/masifunde-gallery.htm)
Contact number: +27829788588
7/27/2019 Youth Consultation on the 2nd Annual High Level Dialogue on Governance and Democracy in Africa: Trends, Chall…
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/youth-consultation-on-the-2nd-annual-high-level-dialogue-on-governance-and 2/6
2
1. Introduction:
In 2014, South Africa will be celebrating 20 years since
the formal end of apartheid segregationist rule where
only the white minority enjoyed political freedom and the
rest of the black population was for the most part
oppressed. The youth consultation on the 2nd annual
High Level Dialogue on Governance and Democracy in
Africa: Trends, Challenges and Prospects could therefore not have come at a more poignant time as
the country starts to look back on the past 20 years to celebrate the achievements and gains made,
but also to start thinking critically about ways to solve some of the most pressing challenges in the
country which includes corruption, gender based violence and economic and racial inequality.
In this short position paper we report on qualitative interviews with young South Africans from
across different racial groups, genders and geographical locations. In undertaking the research, we
were guided by a number of questions aiming to unpack the extent to which democracy has been
consolidated for everyone to enjoy in South Africa:
How has democracy faired in South Africa over the last five years?
Do young people take active part in the democratic processes in South Africa?
Is the rule of law adhered to in South Africa or are the laws modified possibly to suit the
government?
Do young people believe that elections in South Africa are free and fair and that elected
leaders represent the wishes of the people?
Are there constitutional impediments that limit the participation of young South Africans in the
electoral and democratic processes in South Africa?
The interviews were conducted in November, 2013 in a number of different places in South Africa
encapsulating rural, peri-urban and urban settings. Many of the participants interviewed were not
English first language speakers, in such cases they were interviewed in their home language (e.g.
isiXhosa) with their responses being translated to English. In the cases where there was no direct
translation, the closest version in English is provided.
Figure 1 Young South Africans completing youth consultation questionnaire during the youth consultation in November2013, South Africa. Pic: Baxolise Siseko Dlali
“[Democracy] is the treatment of
all people equally irrespective of
how they may differ” – 18 year
old male, South Africa.
7/27/2019 Youth Consultation on the 2nd Annual High Level Dialogue on Governance and Democracy in Africa: Trends, Chall…
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3
1.1. How has democracy faired in South Africa in the last five years?
Many young people spoke about democracy in terms of the South African history context of apartheid.
They recognised that they now have political freedoms and lots of opportunities that many (black)
people could not enjoy during apartheid. These include freedom of movement without having to
produce an Identity Document (ID), so in this sense many were happy and grateful and felt they have
democracy now as compared to the horrible past of South Africa. Many praised the fact that they now
have access to things they would not have otherwise had 19/20 years ago such as (free) education,
freedom of movement and freedom of speech which were highly restricted before.
Despite these positive appraisals, some young people still expressed discontent and unhappiness
with South African democracy in the past few years. A 21 year old man for instance complained that
there are schools that are in a deplorable condition, clinics were still inaccessible for most people and
yet there was no one accounting for why this is so. Some complained about poor service delivery and
lack of accountability from leaders. Many expressed wonder in what ‘freedom’ means when so many
people are still unhappy in South Africa as demonstrated by the many protests which take place all
over the country throughout the year. One 19 year old said:
“Democracy means nothing to me, some people seedemocracy as something important but look it is not. There
is a lot of unemployment and whites still abuse blacks, and
also there’s [a lot of] poverty .”
There was thus clearly a mixed reaction to this
question, on the one hand with many young people
recognising that there are many areas where the South
African democracy serves them well such as in the provision of services, housing and other needs,
yet at the same time they recognised that the government is still not rendering services at a fast
enough rate for many of these services have still not reached many people.
Figure 2: A young man completing the questionnaire during the youth consultation in South Africa, November 2013. Pic:Baxolise Siseko Dlali.
“Because we are the children of today, wehave rights that cannot be easily be abused
by anyone” – 23 year old young woman,
South Africa.
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1.2. Do young people take active part in the democratic processes in South Africa?
Young South Africans recognised that there were some avenues for young people to participate in
democratic processes in various ways. One young man, a 20 year old, said that he was participating
in democracy by teaching young learners about democracy along with the responsibilities and duties
that come with it. Some young people said that even in rural areas there are organisations which are
sent by the government to assist young people to be able to take a more active role in democratic
processes. Another 19 year old said that there were many young people nowadays entering the
political arena and thus showing that while they may be young, they are also capable and dedicated
to the betterment of this country. Some other young people saw participating in democratic processes
as a responsibility to get an education. For now the government provides education, so there is also a
responsibility on young people to rise up and attend school (even though they still noted the inequality
between ‘black’ schools and ‘white’ schools).
Others however felt that there were very little avenues for young people to be able to
participate in democratic processes in South
Africa for the processes were seen as corrupt
and that often one had to bribe the officials tohave things done or to be able to participate they
alluded. Others complained that young people
could not take active part in democratic
processes in South Africa because they do not
get information about these processes. One 19
year old complained that they sometimes
participated in community meetings, but were not consistent in attending because they go to school
and do not always know what is happening in their community.
What emerged from this section is that there is no very clear direct way in which young
people participate actively in the democratic processes in South Africa. It appeared young people
devised their own ways to participate, although there were state sanctioned events like the June 16th
Youth Day commemorations. There appears to be a need for more explicit and clear ways to inform
young people of the various ways in which they can participate in the democratic processes.
1.3. Is the rule of law adhered to in South Africa or are the laws modified possibly to suit the
government?
Many young people said ‘no’, the rule of law was not adhered to in South Africa, and that this was not
only in government but in society generally too. They said that people do not obey the law and that
this is clearly evidenced by the high crime rate in the country because people are repeatedly breaking
the laws. They stated that unemployment was a huge issue that was driving up the crime rate and
resulting in people breaking the rule of law. Some young people felt that the rule of law in South Africawas abused and modified to suit the needs of those at the national level of government and not to
help people at the ground level. Corruption was a theme kept coming up again and again and how
the law -the respondents stated- was often twisted to meet the needs of the wealthy and politically
connected.
1.4. Do young people believe that elections in South Africa are free and fair and that elected
leaders represent the wishes of the people?
Some young people said ‘yes’, they do believe that elections in South Africa are free and fair and that
the elected leaders represent the best wishes of the people. Some mentioned the example of national
youth representatives that they had in their local areas and who represented their interests at the
national level. Other young people however expressed that they did not believe that elected leadersrepresent the best wishes of the people because as one informant said: “when they are campaigning
“Democracy is what makes me feel free in
South Africa, because after democracy we
have many opportunities” – 18 year old,
South Africa.
7/27/2019 Youth Consultation on the 2nd Annual High Level Dialogue on Governance and Democracy in Africa: Trends, Chall…
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5
for election they will say that they will meet the needs of the people but when h/she has been elected
they will turn their backs on the people.”
Other young people complained that in South Africa the elections are not free because South
Africans do not choose their own president, but rather vote for a political party and so the choice
made by the political party might not necessarily represent the choices of the voter. There was also a
sentiment that many young people do not have faith in the potential of the elections to bring any
substantive change(s) to their lives so there was nothing motivating them to register to vote.
1.5. Are there constitutional impediments that limit the participation of young South Africans in the
electoral and democratic processes in South Africa?
Most informants saw no constitutional impediments that would limit the participation of young South
Africans in the electoral and democratic processes of South Africa because as one said: “democratic
elections [which take place in South Africa] afford everyone the chance to vote and make his or her
choice for the governing party .” Most young people mentioned administrative issues like young people
who are unable to get ID documents and are thus consequently excluded from participating in
electoral and democratic processes in South Africa. There were a number of reasons for this whichincluded the inaccessibility of the department of home affairs in rural areas and hence some young
people (especially those without money) choose to go on without having ID’s.
Figure 3: A school in South Africa where some of the youth consultations took place in November 2013. Pic: Baxolise
Siseko Dlali.
2. Concluding remarks/recommendations:
All the young South African informants interviewed for this short report indicated a strong awareness
of South Africa’s history and what it means to live in South Africa nearly two decades after the first
democratic elections were held in South Africa. Many of the informants were therefore incredibly
grateful for many of the opportunities that they had access to today because of political freedom /
7/27/2019 Youth Consultation on the 2nd Annual High Level Dialogue on Governance and Democracy in Africa: Trends, Chall…
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6
inkululeko. However many were unhappy with many issues related to what they perceive to be an
abuse of the rule of law, constitutionalism and South Africa’s democracy. Many thus expressed a lack
of motivation to participate in a number of democratic processes like voting because they did not
believe that their contributions would be heard or that they would make a (significant) difference
except to benefit those in power.
There was also a strong sense of fear of criticising the government when it has already done
so much for many of the young people interviewed. One 19 year old remarked that “ there is no leader
who is one hundred percent faithful... as long as your grand-mother/father gets their monthly grant
from the government you just say ‘thank you’ because your stomach is full because of these people ”
he said. There were other young people who expressed a longing to have a new leader to experience
how different things would be, but they had a sense that they could not do anything to change the
current leadership in South Africa. There was a lot of concern amongst the young people interviewed
that the South African government was not doing enough to curb unemployment. Many felt that this
lack of focus on unemployment was jeopardising South Africa’s democracy because it was
inadvertently forcing young people into a life of crime.
There was also a lot of concern about corruption in the government, society and the privatesector with people and leaders using public money for personal use whilst other people suffered.
Many young people did not seem to appear to know which avenues were available to them to make a
change in society without relying on the government. There was also a strong sense that yes, there
might be corruption and abuse of the rule of law, but many did not seem to think they could do
anything about it. The research further showed that race was still a huge factor in most young
people’s eyes in how they viewed the South African democracy. A lot of the (black) young people
measured their progress vis-a- vis what white people have. Many thus often asked how they can use
their vote as a means to ensure that they too can advance in their personal lives.
Ultimately however the overall tone was very positive about South Africa from the young
people who felt that despite all the problems, challenges and possibilities presented by South Africa,
many felt that they could see a positive future ahead for themselves if the problems of corruption and
lack of accountability can be solved from the South African leaders.
In conclusion we must caution that the study was very qualitative and involved a very small
sample of young South Africans. This means that the views presented here are by no means an
accurate measure of the views of all young South Africans. However we would like to believe that the
emerging themes from the research include themes that many young South Africans would be able to
relate to.
“I am not yet registered but I will
register as soon as possible and I
am planning to vote because I
believe in democracy and I
benefit a lot as I am a student and
get free education because of
democracy” – 18 Year old, SouthAfrica.
Figure 4 Pic: Baxolise Siseko Dlali