South Africa: the link between the ANC – the party of Nelson Mandela

South Africa will vote on Wednesday to elect the MPs who will nominate the future president. For the first time since 1994, the African National Congress could lose its majority, failing to convince young voters.

According to polls, two days before the legislative elections on Wednesday May 29, 2024, the ANC of President Cyril Ramaphosa, the party of Nelson Mandela, could fall below the 50% mark for the first time since the end of Apartheid. In power for 30 years, the ANC no longer manages to convince the electorate in the face of the problems of corruption, unemployment and the decay of public services, particularly the generations of those who were “born free”, without ever knowing the regime of Apartheid.

South Africans under 35 represent more than a third of the electorate and for them, democracy has always been theirs. For their elders it is a liberating conquest, the symbol of Nelson Mandela’s fight. But for young people, this system only allows those who are elected to get rich. A survey by the Human Sciences Research Council in Pretoria even reveals that 60% of the youngest, those aged 18-24, do not consider democracy to be the best model of governance.

For unregistered young people, what predominates is weariness and the desire to put an end to the ANC’s 30 consecutive years of power. We find this “little music” on social networks, in the speeches of influencers, who are the only public figures that South African youth listen to today: “Hi everyone, I just wanted to know if we continue to vote ANC ? I don’t want you to let yourself be fooled, with this cheap electricity we’re being given. No, what they’re doing here is trying to suck up to us and calm our anger. Don’t be fooled by giving the ANC a 5th “second chance”! Please don’t do this.”

Two million views are displayed for this unequivocal message, launched by one of the kings of chat who admits to having been approached by an opposition party. This young South African says he doesn’t make a single penny from his anti-ANC speeches, he doesn’t ride for anyone and simply enjoys engaging in what he calls “of the production of educational entertainment”.

An “educational entertainment” which the opposition is not necessarily happy about. What predominates is the powerful rejection of the old African National Congress. But opposite, the Democratic Alliance, the coalition of oppositions, does not seem to benefit from it. What emerges from these videos viewed, shared and commented on several hundred thousand times is the same observation. What emerges from this noisy concert is the criticism of a corrupt political class, inactive in the face of the 33% unemployment rate which affects the country, of the representatives of the people towards whom the South African youth are no longer friendly. of illusion.