YOUTH MAY RISE AGAIN
In terms of numbers, young people should have a powerful effect on the 2019 election. Though they are drawn to the DA and EFF, with their relatively youthful leaders, disunity could still be a factor
They spend too much money on avocados. They have a penchant for a shade of blush branded “millennial pink” and taking Buzzfeed quizzes to figure out what flavour of ice cream they are.
But when it comes to politics, millennials are becoming increasingly disconnected.
Millennials, or Generation Y, are somewhere between 18 and 36 years old and have championed the #Rhodesmustfall and #Feesmustfall campaigns in SA.
But the ANC’S rhetoric on radical economic transformation has the politically savvy generation heading in the opposite direction.
In the US presidential elections and the Brexit vote, young voters failed to pitch at the polls. US President Donald Trump’s victory has been documented by the Centre for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement as having been a result of a lack of unity among millennials.
In SA, approximately 48%, or 12.7m, of all voters are under the age of 40, but the generation gap between millennials and the older Generation X is becoming apparent in SA too.
And even among the millennials themselves there is a lack of agreement about whether to vote for the DA or the EFF.
Tarryn de Kock (23), a policy analyst at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, says the ANC’S rhetoric on radical economic transformation has become a red flag for millennials, because it’s the language used by #Rhodesmustfall, which is “antagonistic to the way in which government has aligned itself with capital”.
De Kock, who has been involved in student activism, says she would not vote for an ANC government. While the EFF is more aligned with progressive intentions, she says it has “problematic elements with gender issues”.
Candice Chirwa (21), a politics student at Wits, says the EFF’S Julius Malema and the DA’S Mmusi Maimane speak more to millennials than other party leaders do.
“Each political party has some sort of phrase they use. The DA is always about ‘bring back the jobs’ rhetoric while the EFF is about bringing dignity and the land back to the poorest of the poor,” she says.
Most millennials agree that the EFF and DA best represent their concerns. The EFF in particular talks to youth from lower-income backgrounds but is perceived as too radical, while the DA’S navigation of race issues and identity politics is seen as questionable.
Kanelo Pitso (25), a researcher and founder of a youth-empowerment organisation, says the DA does not adequately seek to deal with racism and inequality.
“The EFF has had a consistent message that millennials seem to agree with. [Its] rhetoric, though at times over the top, identifies with the pain and distress that young people are experiencing.”
He says the EFF has revolutionary economic and social rhetoric that has become attractive to millennials.
Business consultant Jacques Absil (26) says he’s ambivalent about local politics but thinks the DA has fared better with millennials under Maimane than under Helen Zille.
“The DA barks like that irritating little chihuahua at your slightly racist aunt who lives in Pretoria because [Jo’burg] is too dangerous,” says Absil. “The EFF [has chosen] to take ‘the good fight’ somewhat too literally and to some extent successfully.”
At the end of May Reuel Khoza, president of the Institute of Directors of SA, told a Gordon Institute of Business Science forum that SA millennials are “enemies of entropy”.
He said millennials face a number of issues that need to be overcome to guarantee a prosperous future for SA. These include leaders who are devoid of moral authority and who show disregard for their oath of office.
“Cabinet ministers who pursue excellence and adhere to ethical principles . . . are castigated and cast aside,” he said.
Pearl Pillay, the director of policy thinktank Youth Lab, says political parties grossly misunderstand young people’s grasp of what’s going on in SA and how it affects them.
“There is the assumption that young people care only about trends and partying. So, often, the rhetoric used when speaking to them lacks substance.
“The young people we have interacted with through Youth Lab have largely had their voting decisions [affected] by the way politicians have interacted with them.”
Millennials and experts agree that there aren’t any parties right now who speak across the board to young people — and this may hold the key to the next election.
What it means: With 48% of SA voters under the age of 40, this is a generation that is being courted by politicians