South Africans vote, but its youth abstain in droves
An elderly woman makes her way to the voting station in Kliptown, Soweto, on the morning of South Africa’s elections. By Max Bearak Max Bearak Africa bureau chief based in Nairobi Email Bio Follow May 8 at 7:21 AM SOWETO, South Africa — South Africans voted on Wednesday, almost exactly 25 years after a long liberation struggle filled with immense sacrifice ended apartheid and ushered in a democratic era for all its citizens.
The number of young South Africans registered to vote has dropped to its lowest level in at least 20 years, according to the Independent Electoral Commission. More than half of South Africans ages 15 to 24 are unemployed, like Gumede, which puts the country in the world’s bottom three, according to the World Bank.
Kliptown isn’t the most neglected township, by far. But its homes still don’t have running water, and everyone uses portable toilets because there is no sewer system. Gumede’s family is typical in that it gets by entirely on “social grants” — South Africa’s version of welfare. His family’s eight members split about $120 per month.
“We’ve lost heart, man,” said Simo Mpapa, 30, a Kliptown resident who is trying to “make it out of the ghetto” by writing scripts for television shows. “We’ve never seen anything different here. Go to Diepsloot, Vosloorus, whichever township, it’s all the same. Saying apartheid is over is only half the truth.”
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