Although there was a record 27.78 million registered voters for the May 29th National and Provincial elections, only 16.29 million voters made their mark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This represents a 58.6% voter turnout rate \u2013 the lowest general election turnout rate in the country’s 30-year democratic history.<\/p>\n\n\n
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<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nAlthough the 58.6% is higher than the 45.9% turnout seen in the 2021 local government elections (general elections usually attract a larger voter pull than municipal), the 2024 voter turnout is 30.7 percentage points lower than the peak of 89.3% seen in 1999.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This turnout is against previous Electoral Commission (IEC) predictions, which initially anticipated a turnout of over 70% on election day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, many registered voters who turned up to cast their ballots were met with snaking queues, largely (but not solely) due to technical glitches with the voter management devices. Some abandoned these lines and opted not to vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Additionally, the IEC acknowledged that its new rule restricting voters to using only the voting station they were registered at led to many people being turned away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabola acknowledged these shortcomings, saying that voter education could have played a big role in this, and emphasised that there were \u201cno deliberate delays on the part of the commission.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, deputy chief electoral officer, Masego Sheburi, said these above-mentioned issues could not be the only reason for the low turnout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt could have been a contributing factor, but as I said, we have to look at the evidence and understand what drove voter behaviour to be the manner it did,” said Sheburi. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bigger problem<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Low participation in South African elections has become an increasingly dominant feature. Analysts attribute it to a wide array of issues, including a lack of trust in politics and parties, disillusionment with the system, and complete dissatisfaction with government performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The declining and historically low 2024 voter turnout statistics paint a bleak picture\u2014but even more concerning is South Africa’s overall participation rate in the political system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat should really perturb us is the participation rate \u2013 a figure that tells an even more disturbing story than the low voter turnout,\u201d said political analyst Aubrey Matshiqi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhile the voter turnout is the percentage of registered voters who turn up on voting day, the participation rate is the percentage of all South Africans who are eligible to vote,<\/strong>” and turned up on voting day, said Matshiqi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Researcher Gareth van Onselen (using Stats SA data) estimated<\/a> a 2024 voting age population in South Africa of 41.4 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With 16.29 million votes cast, that means that South Africa’s 2024 National and Provincial elections had a voter<\/strong> participation rate<\/strong> of ~ 39.4%.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This means that non-voters, and those who didn’t register to vote but were eligible to, make up a vast ‘silent majority’ in the country, accounting for 60.6%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n