Before our people were allowed to vote, they organised. As young people who look back, we look back and see an empowered civic society. Organised and defiant communities, waging war against an insurmountable evil.

We look back and see both the ruins and the foundations of another future. A stolen future. We look on helplessly as we drift further and further away from what was hoped for, and fought for. The dreams of the many, not enough to sway the greed of the few.

Many campaigns have gone live on social media encouraging young people to register to vote (we will ask for the price of these campaigns later), the formula appears to be; throwing StatsSA figures around haphazardly, begging young people to understand how important they are to our democracy. A democracy that the majority of people in this country cannot tangibly relate to or rely on.

Young people know that change will not only come through the ballot box. Nor will it mystically and swiftly sweep away the frustrations and economic desperation of a generation. Of generations. Why do you then insist on convincing us otherwise?

Hope is a drug in high demand in South Africa and is often supplemented with an unseemly amount of denial. At what point do we tire of the circus? More and more clowns join the fray, eager for their moment in the spotlight. The ridiculousness of it all is the only balm to an election season.

Young people are not the only ones uninterested in voting. There also appears to be little conversation about why even registered voters do not bother to turn up to vote. Out of 27 million registered voters, only 17 million people actually voted in 2019; cynicism appears to be one of the few things uniting us as a people.

It is difficult to discern whether our elders who were once revolutionaries and awe-inspiring freedom fighters, truly believe that any of these political parties have the capacity and empathetic leadership to turn the tide. Whether they truly believe the words they preach, an unyielding insistence ‘to vote’, no matter what and no matter who Perhaps the mess of coalition pettiness in our metros has not convinced them. These are the same people who bought into the new dawn, and maybe lessons have not yet been learnt.

There exists the possibility that these same elders have forgotten that they didn’t just fight for the right to vote, but also for dignity and for a state that cares for all its people. Perhaps even they need to be reminded.

The idea of democracy has been so propagandised by rainbow nation droning that people have forgotten what it truly means and what it needs to function. Consistent participation at all levels of government and policy-making, especially and most pertinently at the level of local government. Active citizenry goes beyond casting a ballot, so stop telling us to vote and start building this democracy that we so desperately need.

Vote we must, and vote we will. But do not lie to our faces with your promises of rainbow-tinted change. With so many political parties using hateful rhetoric as a campaigning clarion call, we now vote to keep the worst ones out.

As we stand on the edge of the abyss looking down into the void of hopelessness, we vote to stop the descent. We must remember the legacy we have inherited and forgotten. We must remember that before our people were allowed to vote, they organised. We must remember the power once held in our communities, and fight to get it back.

Tell us: Outside of voting, what other actions are you taking to improve your community?