Political analyst Zakhele Ndlovu has urged South African voters to judge parties by their policies and performance, warning that loyalty, emotion and identity can weaken democratic accountability.
Political analyst Zakhele Ndlovu has urged South African voters to judge parties by their policies and performance, warning that loyalty, emotion and identity can weaken democratic accountability.
Ndlovu, a political analyst at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, said voters needed to understand the purpose of their vote and identify the changes they expected from the political parties and leaders they elected.
Speaking to IOL at the KwaZulu-Natal Result Operations Centre on Wednesday night, he said voting should not be driven by excitement or allegiance to a particular party, but by informed decisions that enabled citizens to hold elected representatives accountable.
“We need to ensure that we have people who are equipped enough to make informed decisions at the polls. That is very important for the quality of our democracy because, without that, we’ll have people voting out of loyalty and emotions,” said Ndlovu.
He said South African voters had largely continued to vote along identity lines since the advent of democracy in 1994, raising questions about whether they adequately considered the policies and promises of the parties they supported.
Ndlovu argued that voters had paid a heavy price over the past 32 years for remaining loyal to political parties without demanding accountability. He pointed to persistent socio-economic challenges, including high unemployment, poverty and the rising cost of living, as evidence that many South Africans had yet to experience meaningful improvements in their lives.
“There’s high unemployment in South Africa, the standard of living is not improving for many people and the poverty levels are high, with many families depending on social grants. The only changes we’ve seen are symbolic, but there hasn’t been any meaningful change,” said Ndlovu.
He called for voter education to be taken more seriously to ensure citizens understood their electoral rights and responsibilities and were equipped to hold political leaders accountable beyond election day.
Ndlovu also questioned the assumption that reaching the voting age of 18 automatically meant a person was sufficiently mature to make informed electoral decisions.
“We are saying voting starts at 18 years old, with an assumption that at that age you are mature enough to make an informed decision.
It’s almost like we are putting all the carts before the horse because people still keep getting simple decision-making wrong,” he said.
He said strengthening voter education was essential to improving the quality of South Africa’s democracy and ensuring that electoral choices were based on informed assessments of political leadership and performance.