It might seem like a rather mundane bureaucratic
procedure - the registration of new voters in a country with an already
well-tested and credible electoral system.
But this weekend will see a nationwide push to sign up a very special generation of South Africans - the "born-frees."
Elections will be held here next year, on the 20th
anniversary of South African democracy. They will be the first
elections in which those who were born after the end of apartheid in
1994 will be eligible to vote.
The born-frees are widely assumed to be less
swayed by history and more likely to consider voting for a party other
than the ANC, the liberation movement that has always run post-apartheid
South Africa.
But the born-frees can only play a political role
here if they can be bothered to vote. And as things stand, they seem to
be staying on the sidelines.
At present only 8.4 per cent of 18-19 year olds
are registered to vote. Among 20-29 year olds that figure rises to an
unremarkable 49.4 per cent.
"One of the biggest challenges for our maturing
democracy is apathy," said commentator Justice Malala. "And it's a
challenge for opposition parties here in particular."
Apathy rules?
Perhaps the loudest political voice amongst
younger South Africans belongs to Julius Malema - the former head of the
ANC Youth League.
His new party, the red-beret wearing populist
Economic Freedom Fighters, is explicitly appealing to younger voters
struggling to find work in an economy where almost half of them have no
formal job, and where the education system is lagging behind much of
Africa.
"The EFF is targeting those disillusioned jobless
kids. But you need to get them to register [to vote] and for that you
need a lot of money," said Mr Malala.
South Africa's political landscape is changing
steadily, with opposition parties - in particular the Democratic
Alliance - chipping away at the ANC's crushing parliamentary majority.
Many speculate that once an elderly Nelson Mandela
is no longer there, the ANC's powerful emotional grip on many South
Africans will quickly be broken.
But you only have to look to Japan or Mexico to
see how a fractured opposition, and the ties of history, can help keep a
ruling party in place for many decades.
Others will no doubt point to a different example closer at hand, just across the Limpopo.
Many analysts expect the ANC's share of the vote
to dip, significantly, at next year's election - perhaps well below 60
per cent - and predict a further, and more decisive haemorrhaging of
support in 2018.
The party has been badly damaged by high-profile
corruption allegations, a growing sense of political paralysis, the
Marikana mine killings, and its increasingly fractious relationship with
the labour movement.
And yet the ANC has plenty of important
achievements to its name, it has the advantages of incumbency, and a
well-oiled political machine to ensure its supporters are not only
registered, but turn out to vote on polling day.
Apathy may be a problem here. But it might just be the ANC's saviour.
SOURCE: BBC-
