OP-ED 1 [KSSJAR001]

Political discourse, especially amongst the youth, is a cornerstone to maintaining a healthy democracy. But as a non-partisan young person in South Africa, spaces that facilitate meaningful political conversation, a pseudo-public sphere, are hard to find. This vacuum is likely a key factor contributing to youth’s apparent disengagement in politics. 

The youth is going through a lot in the country; with youth unemployment sitting at 70%, the price tag on education sky-rocketing and incidences of discrimination occurring way too often. And for these gloomy reasons most youth do not support the three leading parties.  

Not supporting a leading party means there is no space to facilitate valuable political discourse, if you belong to a political party there are branch meetings which provide a space for such discussions. However, as a growing number of young people feel their views are not represented by the countries’ political parties finding a space for political discussion is becoming more difficult. 

One of the lesser spoken about parts of the Fees Must Fall protests was the political education discourse sessions. In these sessions, partisans and non-partisans came together to be educated, challenged and, most importantly, to actively engage. These sessions often centered around the process of decolonisation, feminism, intersectionality and identity politics and were often chaired by learned professors. The discussions prompted further informal conversations about the issues facing the “born free youth”. It allowed us to deepen our understanding of the country, its complicated history as well as the future of the nation. Drawing on my own experiences in these conversations, I recall sitting in Memorial Hall with friends, new and old, listening to different speakers talk about the complexity of intersectionality. 

Listening to these talks and engaging with fellow students helped me to understand the lived realities of others which in turn made me question the decisions I make on a daily basis. It changed the way I think about the political sphere of our society: going from blindly admiring the work of Mandela’s ANC to questioning the erasure and romanticisation of certain actors during that transitional time. Critical thinking. 

The movement was powerful but, in many ways, short-lived, particularly the inclusive political education sessions. Now there is a vacuum. And as many students would know, education institutions do not make much effort to provide a space for political discourse, this needs to change.

The Habermasian conception of the public sphere is rooted in the idea that the sphere is able to mediate between the state and society. The arena is designated for discourse and rationalizing political domination thereby the citizenry works to hold the state accountable. As contemporary thinkers have shown, there exists a multitude of competing public spheres. A key element of democracy is freedom of expression and therefore it is important for competing arenas of political discourse to exist so that all people feel they have a space to speak about their political views while still being challenged.

In the days preceding the 9 May, election day, this year, the most common question many were asking themselves was… Who should I vote for? A question that requires more than just consuming media reports and endless manifestos to answer. The question requires robust discussion. 

One might say that social media has become the new public sphere, but sadly it is not. On social media, users are allowed to share their views freely but the quality of discussion and more importantly the potential for that discussion to educate and inform opinions is highly unlikely. This is not because there are no knowledgeable people on social media sharing their views but rather the issue lies in the quality of the political discourse that the medium is able to sustain. 

The existence of bots and internet ‘trolls’ is something many are all too familiar with. Bots and “trolls” are common culprits when it comes to derailing political discourses online. Fear of harassment and cyber- bullying as a result of political views is a reality, due to these culprits, which inturn may prevent users from sharing their honest political views. The lack of plurality in the opinions you may encounter feeds into creating a conversation of inferior quality. A user is able to, with some exceptions, curate their newsfeed. By following certain accounts, they are more likely to see posts by like-minded people. Finally, the issue of access. Active social media users account for a very small percentage of South Africans and often creates a false illusion of the country’s reality. Getting caught up in this bubble is a problem. 

South Africa is a young democracy with a young population that is engaged yet disengaged and politically aware and yet politically disillusioned. We cannot allow these contradictions to exist, we need to work towards creating a space to faciliate non-partisan political discussion. [792 words]