Expert views

STUDENTS would rather take to the streets than vote, says Professor Susan Booysen from the Wits School of Governance.

In January, Booysen warned that this year’s local government elections could see many students turning their back on the ANC or the entire system of voting and instead opting for protests.

With the voting registration process kicking off today, Booysen this week said the municipal elections would be interesting to watch.

“We’ve seen a whole new generation coming on to the local political landscape.

“Typically many young people have maintained that political party participation is not for them. This has been evident in the manner in which the youth have disregarded the inclusion of any political party and have single-handedly forced the government to sit up and take notice of them and the government has listened.”

Booysen noted, however, that the country’s youth voiced their frustrations depending on their circumstances. Those facing unemployment, she said, embarked on protests to address their cause while for students their fight was based on access to quality education and affordability.

“The point is that young people in this country, irrespective of their background, are at a stage in their lives where they are determined to be heard,” Booysen said.

Fanie Cloete, emeritus professor at the University of Johannesburg’s department of public management and governance, said the country was likely to see more protests by the youth.

“They feel strongly about issues close to their daily lives. This has so far not turned into youth protests about local services, but will probably centre around the current issues on campuses and attempts by political activists who might be students or might not be students to make these campuses ungovernable in order to try to influence concessions to them by the government or by universities.”

Asked if there will be a formal boycott by students in this year’s municipal elections, Cloete said he didn’t believe this would happen.

“If voters feel strongly about issues they normally express those views in different ways, through conventional and unconventional political processes. The elections could rather turn out as a referendum on the legitimacy of the ruling party and the ANC, given recent developments in different sectors like higher education, fees, jobs scarcity, weak economic growth, etc.”