Student Banhle Malwane participating in a voter education campaign conducted by the IEC at Wits University. Elections are intensely passionate and partisan. Citizens do not have to be dispassionate, independent and impartial when they make choices about elections, says the writer.
Dhaya Pillay
Why would citizens participate in elections if they see no benefit for themselves?
Speakers Dr Ben Roberts of the Human Sciences Research Council and Dr Pali Lehohla inspired this question at the Thought Leadership Seminar titled The Disappearing Labour Theory: Understanding Recent Voting Patterns in South Africa’s Elections. The seminar, hosted by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), aimed to understand why citizens do not participate in elections.
In my closing remarks (below), I responded to the speakers intuitively as an adjudicator.
