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23 November 2021 | Story Gcina Mtengwane | Photo Supplied
Gcina Mtengwane is a lecturer in the community development programme at the University of the Free State, QwaQwa Campus. He believes democracy is more than just voting. It is the expansion of self-determination opportunities.

Opinion article by Mr Gcina Mtengwane, Lecturer: Community Development Programme, University of the Free State.


Voter apathy has been diagnosed as part of the reason for the low voter turnout in the 2021 local government elections. The turnout was the lowest since democracy the dawn of democracy, with only about 12 million (46%) of about 26 million registered voters casting ballots. Apathy among voters in representative democracies is defined as a lack of interest in voting. Some choose to view this apathy as a threat to South Africa’s democracy. But it may not be the case, as some would like to put it. Instead, it may reflect the evolution of South Africa’s democracy and the expansion of choices available to South Africans outside of the voting principle commonly used to define democracy.

While I am inclined to agree with the view that this voter apathy has some messaging on the state of South Africa’s democracy, I argue that it is only a small part of the big picture. Democracy is, among many other things, the freedom to make choices. One of the permissible choices is the right not to vote. Defining the success or failure of democracy by voting is quite restricting and problematic   at least for me.

Local government is about addressing challenges in daily live

Local government is mainly about addressing issues and challenges in our daily lives. It does not require much of an overly ideological stance. Put simply, a community member at an informal settlement or village does not need to know the works of Marx, Fanon, and Biko to know that she or he does not have a road, potable water, or ablution facilities. It takes building materials, not political slogans or party ideology to build a house for those without houses or to provide food for the hungry.

What is more interesting has been the activism of young people outside the banner of political parties. Young people are engaged in issues that affect them in their daily lives. They are also engaged in lending a helping hand to others. They are doing this outside of formal party politics. The writings of Adam Prezowski (2003) identify ‘autonomy’ as the ability to participate in the making of collective decisions, which is a paltry notion of freedom. Prezowski asks whether democrats should value the freedom to choose. He further asks whether people value facing distinct choices when they make collective decisions. In the absence of concrete answers to these questions, Prezowski comments that “true” democrats must be prepared that their preferences might not be realised as the outcome of the collective choice. When many people cannot vote for what they most desire, democracy suffers. The low voter turnout may indicate that none of the political parties offered what most South Africans desire, hence they see no impetus to vote. 

Democracy is more than just voting

Democracy is about the expansion of opportunities and choices. Choosing not to vote does not necessarily reflect badly on our democracy. Instead, it speaks positively on the freedom of citizens to choose other arenas through which to have their issues heard. It is the freedom to decide on the relevance or lack thereof of the formal party-political system. The choice not to part take in party politics has allowed young people such as Lonalinamandla Bawuti, who responded to the plight of a young boy from the Eastern Cape living with his grandmother who needed support to go to initiation school. Bawuti appealed for assistance from South Africans to get the youngster to initiation school. 

It is the freedom of a group of businesspeople putting money together to create boreholes for a community without access to potable water. It is Nasizo Mndende,  a young social work graduate in the Eastern Cape seeing the plight of young rural girls and starting an NGO to educate on sexual and reproductive health rights. It is young people creating crowdfunding for students in need of university registration fees and for students wanting to go to university.

It is many others doing what they can with what they have and their influence contributing to change in communities.
The point I am making is that democracy is more than just voting. It is the expansion of self-determination opportunities. Low voter turnout may not be such a disastrous thing after all. This is because a lot of young people are contributing to making a better South Africa outside of the confines of political party membership.

News Archive

Prof Steyn to receive Jan H Marais Prize in Stellenbosch
2017-05-09

Description: Prof Jaap Steyn  Tags: Prof Jaap Steyn

Prof Jaap Steyn, who started his career as
journalist at Volksblad, later entered the academy,
and was a professor at the University of the
Free State for many years.
Photo: Marthie Kemp

Although Prof Jaap Steyn will be honoured officially for his contribution to Afrikaans as an academic language at the end of this month, he only became aware of his nomination after he had won the award.

According to this research fellow in the Department of Afrikaans and Dutch, German and French at the University of the Free State (UFS), he is grateful for the recognition. He has recently been awarded the Jan H Marais Prize for his outstanding contribution to Afrikaans.

Former Kovsie honoured together with Prof Jan van der Watt
According to a statement by the South African Academy for Science and Arts, the award was jointly made to Prof Steyn, who is probably the best-known South African language historian, and Prof Jan van der Watt van Nijmegen from the Netherlands. The prize money of R500 000, which they will share, will be presented in Stellenbosch on 30 May 2017.

Prof Steyn is a former Kovsie, who was a research professor at the UFS from 1985 to 1997, and at the age of 78 is still a research fellow. “After the announcement of the prize, I learnt that I was nominated by two of my colleagues,” he says.

His most difficult work was probably also his best

Over the past 50 years several of his publications, biographies, and books have seen the light. He believes that nothing one does is perfect. His most difficult work was the biography of NP van Wyk Louw. “It was probably also my best work,” he says. “The book I enjoyed working on most, was the biography of the author MER, or ME Rothmann.”

Prof Steyn has also received awards such as the Stals Prize, the Louis Hiemstra Prize, the NP van Wyk Louw medal, and honorary membership from the South African Academy for Science and Arts.

He says the staff in the Department of Afrikaans and Dutch, German and French are very friendly and helpful to still render him assistance as a research fellow.


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