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Declining to vote leaves critical governance failures unchallenged

Voter apathy undermines democracy

Beyond ballot irregularities, voter apathy remains the greatest threat

1 min read

A free and fair election. Few South Africans would use those words as the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) wraps up the count. Fingers are pointing at irregularities across the country

SummaryOpen the quick read
  • Allegations of electoral fraud emerged across South Africa, including ballot theft in KwaZulu-Natal and impersonation in the Eastern Cape.
  • Despite voter turnout rising to roughly 54.5%, around 13.3-million registered citizens chose not to cast their ballots.
  • A striking boycott occurred near Mokopane, Limpopo, where 509 out of 510 registered voters stayed away from the polling station.
  • Persistent failures in basic services, rampant crime, and corruption underscore the urgency of public participation.
  • Staying away from the ballot box relinquishes the democratic power to hold elected leaders accountable.

A free and fair election.
Few South Africans would use those words as the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) wraps up the count.

Fingers are pointing at irregularities across the country: officials impersonated in the Eastern Cape, ballot boxes stolen in KwaZulu-Natal, tampering in Mpumalanga, and the IDs of dead people allegedly used to cast votes.

But the more troubling story is who stayed away.

Just outside Mokopane in Limpopo, a lone voter cast her ballot after the remaining 509 registered voters chose not to.

Nationally, an estimated 43.9-million South Africans are over 18.
Of those, 29.2-million registered, and by midday Thursday, the IEC said about 15.9-million had voted.

That leaves roughly 13.3-million registered voters who stayed home.

Consider what they stayed home from.

People without water, electricity or working streetlights.

Government clinics where patients die because of corruption.

Police officers drunk on duty.

More than 23,000 people were murdered between April last year and March this year, and more than 9,000 rapes reported between April and June.

None of this is fabricated.

Every item made headlines this year, some within the past week.

Perhaps it isn’t this bad everywhere.

But it is what those 509 people, and millions like them, declined to change.

Whether this election was free and fair matters.

It matters far less if we don’t use it.

Turnout did rise, from 46% in 2021 to an estimated 54.5%, which is welcome.

But nearly half of those registered still stayed away, and abstaining leaves the decision to everyone else.

Do we have the power to hold our elected officials accountable?

Juan Venter, Gqeberha