IEC Eastern Cape office holds competition to get youth to polls
The Independent Electoral Commission’s (IEC) office in the Eastern Cape is mobilising Buffalo City pupils towards the polls through several key initiatives such as its first ever School’s Democracy Public Speaking Competition held in Qonce last week.
The competition, which was won by Kingsridge High School, required pupils from three participating schools to present well-researched speeches on topics pertaining to democracy, which they presented on April 25 at the Steve Biko Centre.
Kingsridge Grade 12 pupil Siyolise Kweyama took first place with her insightful analysis of the role of the youth in participatory democracy.
Competition judge and IEC EC deputy manager Masindi Mosehana commended Kweyama’s ability to link the principles of democracy to concrete examples from her reality.
Mosehana said the young competitors’ presentations dispelled the public perception that the youth were politically apathetic.
Mosehana said: “[Siyolise] demonstrated that she understands democracy and the role of young people and provided insight on what young people are doing to participate in and preserve democracy. She presented a number of concepts around democracy and connected them to the topic very well.
“This competition proves that we should encourage young people to have conversations about democracy so that they begin to understand it.”
Kweyama said her experience in the competition had changed her outlook on the importance of voting and that she would encourage youth from her school and community to vote on May 29.
She said: “I felt it was very important to prioritise participating in this competition because I believe in the objective it stands for, which is to encourage young people like me to make the right choices for the wellbeing of our democracy.
“If you want to see change it starts with you.
“As the youth, we have the choice to vote, and knowledge without power is just potential.
“Only action is power, and this means as the youth we must be militant and intentional about our vote.
“In the end, everything works out for the best if you have a pure heart and if you believe in doing the right thing and doing the right thing means voting.”
Nikita Brown, from Zameka High School, took second place, while third place went to Andisiwe Kula from ZK Mathews High School.
The competition is in line with the IEC’s national Schools Democracy Programme, started in 2002 in collaboration with the Department of Basic Education.
The educational programme has become vital in the last decade as the disillusioned youth have become increasingly alienated from the electoral process, revealing a waning sense of civic duty.
The IEC’s report for the 2021 local elections indicates that young people have the power in terms of voting demographics to shape the political agenda, yet older voters are more likely to vote.
This culminates in a negatively reinforcing spiral in which the youth continue to feel disillusioned with democracy.
This is evidenced by the number of registered young voters dropping from five to 4.3 million in the 2021 local government elections.
The data shows that if this persists, especially among the 18- to 19-yearold bracket, it could have a significant impact on the legitimacy of SA’s democracy.
It could also lead to a dangerous erosion in the culture of voting among future generations.
The report reveals that national pride has dropped among the youth who are abandoning traditional conventional political activities.
The IEC EC public speaking competition is aimed at disrupting this negative trajectory.
IEC EC communications and stakeholder liaison officer, Sanda Nodada, said: “The IEC EC introduced the public speaking competition to gauge learners’ knowledge and understanding of democracy, and to assist learners to better express themselves on democracy related matters to be able to impart this knowledge to other learners too.
“The project was insightful for the
IEC as well because it enabled us to understand the forthcoming elections from the perspective of our youngest voters.
“And it revealed importantly that youth are still unsure about which political party they should vote for, given the multi-party system used in our country.
“For the learners, this programme has given them a clear view and understanding of the IEC’s mandate, which we know will be shared with their peers.
“We would like to see the competition grow bigger and be extended to other provinces as well and at a national level too.
“We hope that through this competition schools will open their doors more for the IEC to continue to educate learners on voting processes and procedures.”
The IEC EC has been hard at work throughout the province with its Schools Democracy Programme and has provided educational initiatives at 392 schools across several grades, mostly targetting pupils in Grades 9 to 12.
The IEC has also completed 1,393 schools events in the last quarter as the country prepares to go to the polls on May 29.
❝ If you want to see change, it starts with you. As the youth, we have the choice to vote, and knowledge without power is just potential