Apathy and other ways to undermine democracy

The bitter irony is almost too much to bear in South Africa, a nation where people once fought (and died) for the right to vote, less than 59% of registered voters bothered to cast a ballot in the 2024 national elections, and this figure is expected to fall further in this year's local government elections.

"Democracy is not a spectator sport. It’s a collective act of faith— in each other, and in the idea that a better future is possible."

This is a far cry from the 86% turnout in '94 that marked the end of apartheid, a hopeful time when the stakes of democracy felt visceral, immediate, even non-negotiable. Yet today the hard-won freedom to shape the country’s future is met with a shrug by a growing number of citizens. The decline in voter turnout since 2009 feels like a quiet betrayal of the sacrifices that secured democracy in the first place. The question is how did we get here? And what does it say about the health of our democracy when so many choose to take a shot left and just opt out?

Image source: Carnegie Endowment
Man holding election ballot papers

I'd wager that a part of the answer lies in the mirror. Democracy isn’t just something that happens to us, it’s something we do, every day. Every uncast ballot, every dismissive "they’re all the same", every refusal to engage is a brick in the wall of our own disempowerment. We can’t lament the lack of change if we keep handing the same people the same mandates, hoping for a different outcome. As the saying goes, doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result isn’t just naive (or insanity) it’s a form of self-sabotage. If we want a democracy that works for us, we have to show up, not just with our votes, but with our voices, our scrutiny, and our willingness to demand better. And not in an antagonistic way, we're such a diverse country we need engagement and conversations, we need patience and understanding with each other and the empathy to realise at the end of the day we want the same basic things, even when we disagree on the roads to get there.

So let’s start there. Let’s show up for the conversations, the debates, the tough questions, and yes, the votes. Let’s remember that democracy isn’t a spectator sport. It’s a collective act of faith, in each other and in the idea that a better future is possible. But it only works if we do. 🇿🇦