Khalesakhe Mbhense 2 hours ago News 2 Views
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) in KwaZulu-Natal has taken its voter registration campaign to tertiary institutions in effort to encourage the youth to register to vote ahead of the Local Government Elections.
Research by the commission has revealed voter apathy amongst the youth between the ages of 18 and 25.
The commission took its campaign to the Durban University of Technology’s Ritson campus.
The IEC is confident that the education and voter registration campaign at tertiary institutions in province is likely to make difference in terms of voter turnout among the youth during this year’s elections.
Speaking at the Durban University of Technology, IEC commissioner Glen Mashinini says currently, 79% of people between the age of 18 to 25 are not registered.
“We need to raise the level of consciousness among our young people to understand the architecture of our society, therefore, it is important as citizens that they should exercise their democratic rights and participate in the elections. The figures are pointing to us that the different demographic grouping, for example, those between 18 and 20, almost 80% are not registered. Similarly, those who are in the age of 20 to 24, 58% are not registered.”
Students lauded the initiative and pointed out the lack of service delivery in their respective areas discourage them not to vote.
Andiswa Matthews and Sihle Mbonambi elaborate: “It is important to participate in the local government election as your vote counts, and you have the power to speak but through votes. You have the power to change the kind of leadership and services that you want to be delivered in the community.”
“I think if they can right people in the positions that one can motivate us to vote, for example, at Umlazi J. Section we still experience power outage. I think it stime for change.”
Durban University of Technology (DUT) SRC President Sihle Nkosi agree that young are reluctant to vote.
He says even in DUT out 34 000 students but only 1 000 students vote during elections.
“Even us as SRC members we are elected through the electoral processes, so we have to encourage the democratic participation of young people, considering the fact we have a number of different societies that even themselves play a significant role in spreading the message. We will make sure that we co-ordinate all of them, to make sure that they have a proper understanding and at least they participate in the broader concept of the democratic concept of centralism and that we believe in.”
The Tertiary Institution Voter Campaign is expected to be rolled out to other tertiary institutions in the province to convince young people to register and vote.
The commission has announced that the first registration weekend for the upcoming local government elections will take place on 20 and 21 June.
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