South Africa is preparing for local government elections in 2026. In the 2021 election, only 15% of eligible voters aged 18 to 21 registered, raising questions about youth participation and the possibility of lowering the voting age. This article delves into the history of voting rights in South Africa, current laws, and the potential implications of changing the voting age.
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Constitutional and Legal Framework
The South African constitution does not explicitly define the voting age as 18 years, but it is implied through the constitutional principle of universal adult suffrage, as stated in Section 1(d). Section 19(3) grants every adult citizen the right to vote in elections and stand for public office. South African common law defines an adult as a person who has reached the age of 18 years, marking the age of majority.
The South African Electoral Act, amended in 2003, allows individuals to register as voters at 16, but their names are added to the voters’ roll only once they turn 18.
International Comparison
Globally, the minimum voting age varies. The United Arab Emirates has the highest at 25 years. Singapore, Lebanon, Oman, Kuwait, Samoa, and Tonga set it at 21 years. Most state entities (202 in total) use 18 years as the minimum voting age. Indonesia, North Korea, and Greece have a voting age of 17, while Brazil, Argentina, and Ecuador allow voting at 16.
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Here is a table summarizing the voting ages in different countries:
| Voting Age | Countries |
|---|---|
| 25 | United Arab Emirates |
| 21 | Singapore, Lebanon, Oman, Kuwait, Samoa, Tonga |
| 18 | Majority of state entities (202 total) |
| 17 | Indonesia, North Korea, Greece |
| 16 | Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador |
Arguments for and Against Lowering the Voting Age
The idea of lowering the voting age is controversial, with valid arguments on both sides.
Pros
- Enhanced Public Trust: A larger proportion of the population electing representatives could increase public trust in elections.
- Civic and Voter Education: Lowering the voting age could provide an opportunity for more concentrated civic and voter education, especially in schools.
Cons
- Lack of Enthusiasm: Young people's lack of enthusiasm in elections may offset the potential benefits of increased participation.
- Rational Decision-Making: Concerns exist about whether 16- or 17-year-olds possess the life experience and judgment to make rational voting decisions.
- Influence of Populism and Fake News: Voters should be able to think independently and distinguish between reliable and misleading information.
- Politicization of Schools: Lowering the voting age to 16 could politicize schools, with political parties potentially campaigning at schools.
Votes At 16: Stand Ups Debate The Pros And Cons
Voting is an individual and independent action, so no assistance in the decision-making process can be allowed. The rationale of why minors need guardians who must assist them in decision-making is that they do not have yet the life experience and judgement abilities to take the responsibility for a decision on their own.
Do 16- or 17-year-old people have a different attitude towards elections or politics in general than 18-year-olds? In the absence of survey data, an informed guess is: no. Adding them would not necessarily change the outcomes of elections.
Potential Impact on South Africa’s Electoral Dynamics
For the moment, a change in the voting age would most possibly not add major advantages to South Africa’s electoral dynamics, because it would not necessarily increase the number of voters or change the outcome of elections.
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Statistics SA provides figures only for the age bracket 15-19, which is slightly more than 9% of the total population. The age group 16-17 years therefore might be around 3%-4% of the population. Given the trends of low voter registration among the young eligible voters, the percentage it would add to the total might therefore be quite small.
If the 16-17-year bracket were to be added to the electorate, the total number of eligible voters would increase but because the rate of registration as voters is in decline, the total percentage of registered voters would most possibly decrease. Young eligible voters are proportionally less likely to register than their older counterparts.
With a decline in the voting age, voter turnout based on the number of registered voters might not decrease dramatically. The main difference would be seen in the voter turnout as a percentage of the eligible voters, because of the low level of young eligible voters who are willing to register as voters.
Historical Context of Voting Rights in South Africa
The history of voting rights in South Africa is complex and marked by racial discrimination and inequality. When the British took over the Cape, first in 1795 and then more permanently in 1806, they inherited a large, thinly populated pastoral society that depended on the labour of slaves and a rural workforce of indigenous Khoekhoe whose condition was akin to serfdom. In 1806 the entire population of the colony consisted of fewer than 80,000 people: 26,768 whites, 1,200 free blacks (manumitted slaves), 29,861 slaves and 20,426 Khoikhoi .
In 1807, the British government ended the slave trade and, finally, in 1833 outlawed the practice of slavery throughout the Empire. Under pressure from the humanitarian lobby in the UK, acting in concert with a local missionary campaign, the government abolished the Khoekhoe's serf-like status by the declaration of Ordinance 50 of 1828.
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According to the government's instructions, 'all Hottentots and other free persons of colour, lawfully residing within the said Colony, are and shall be, in the most full and ample manner, entitled to all and every the rights, privileges and benefits of the law, to which any other His Majesty's subjects, lawfully residing within the said Colony, are or can be entitled.' This became known as the "Hottentots' Magna Carta". The equality of all people appeared to be assured.
As a result, municipal boards set up in the colony's towns and villages from 1836 allowed any male resident who lived in a property with a yearly rent £10 or more to vote for his town board. This principle of a non-racial franchise was to be entrenched when the Cape was granted representative government in 1853. Part of the reason may have been give propertied Khoekhoe a greater stake in the political system. In 1850 the Khoekhoe of the Kat River Settlement had risen in rebellion.
Although the uprising was defeated, it did influence the minds of colonial officials and politicians who were responsible for drawing up the 1853 constitution. The Cape's Attorney General, William Porter said: 'I would rather meet the Hottentot at the hustings voting for his representative than meet the Hottentot in the wilds with a gun on his shoulder.'
In terms of the constitution of 1853, any man who owned property worth at least £25 was entitled to vote for or stand in the Cape's Parliament. By 1886 Africans made up 43 per cent of the vote in six constituencies of the Eastern Cape, and were a real political force.
It was not long before white politicians began challenging the rights of Coloureds and Africans to vote. Starting in 1834, thousands of these Boers set out on the Great Trek in the hope of leaving British control behind them.
After the Second Anglo-Boer War, the white peoples made peace and came together at the National Convention in October 1909. It brought together politicians from the Cape, Transvaal, Natal and the Orange River Colony, as well as Rhodesia. They aimed to draw up a constitution for the Union of South Africa, uniting the British possessions. Only white men were present at the National Convention; women and all other racial groups were excluded.
This was in some ways unusual. Black men had enjoyed the vote in the Cape since the 1850s and - as long as they had sufficient property, income and education - continued to do so. By 1909 there were 14,388 Coloured and 6,633 African voters in the Cape. Between them they made up 14.8% of the electorate.
In Natal African men also had the right to vote, but it was so constrained that it was almost theoretical. They had to prove they had property and that they were 'civilised' and had been so for seven years. The Governor might then grant them the vote. The Cape argued that their non-racial franchise should be extended across the proposed Union. This was rejected by the Transvaal and Orange Free State.
African and Coloured politicians came together to resist these plans, and called on a former Cape Prime Minister, William Philip Schreiner, to lead a delegation to the UK to call for the Cape franchise to be implemented in the whole of South Africa.
The Union of South Africa was created on 31 May 1910 by the South Africa Act 1909, an act of the British Parliament. The House of Assembly (the lower house of the newly created Parliament of South Africa) and the provincial councils were elected by first-past-the-post voting in single-member electoral divisions.
In the Transvaal and the Orange Free State, the vote was limited by law to white men aged 21 or over. In Natal the vote was limited to men over 21 who met property and literacy qualifications; in theory, this could include non-white men but in practice only very small numbers managed to qualify: in 1910 over 99% of the electorate was white. In the Cape Province the franchise was also limited to men over 21 who met property and literacy qualifications, and non-white men did qualify in significant numbers, making up approximately 15% of the electorate in 1910.
The qualifications in the Cape and Natal also excluded a substantial number of poorer white men. Only white men could stand for election to the House of Assembly, even from the Cape constituencies.
In 1930 the National Party government of J. B. M. Hertzog passed the Women's Enfranchisement Act, which extended the right to vote and the right to stand for election to all white women over the age of 21. In the following year the Franchise Laws Amendment Act lifted the property and literacy requirements for white male voters in the Cape and Natal, with the result that all white citizens over 21 were enfranchised.
In 1936 the Hertzog government enacted the Representation of Natives Act, which removed black voters from the common voters' rolls and placed them on separate "native voters' rolls". The act was passed by the required two-thirds majority in a joint session. Black voters could no longer vote in ordinary elections for the House of Assembly or the Cape Provincial Council; instead they would separately elect three members of the assembly and two members of the council. Four senators would also be indirectly elected by chiefs, tribal councils and local councils for "native areas".
The Representation of Natives Act was repealed in 1959 and consequently the seats of the "native representative members" were abolished in 1960.
After coming to power in 1948 the National Party engaged in a policy of removing coloured voters similarly to black voters. In 1951 Parliament passed the Separate Representation of Voters Act, which removed coloured voters from the common voters roll and instead allowed them to separately elect four MPs. A subsequent attempt by the government to circumvent the Supreme Court by creating a High Court of Parliament failed.
In the election of 1953, coloured voters in the Cape cast their ballots in the same constituencies as white voters. This separate representation of coloured voters in the House of Assembly was ended in 1970.
In 1960 a whites-only referendum was held to decide whether South Africa should become a republic. No changes were made to the franchise with the Republic's emergence in 1961.
In 1983 a referendum on constitutional reform was held, as a result of which the Tricameral Parliament was formed, consisting of three separate houses to represent white, coloured and Indian South Africans. The existing House of Assembly was retained with its white electorate, while two new houses were created: the House of Representatives elected by coloured voters, and the House of Delegates elected by Indian voters.
Many Indians and Coloureds rejected this powerless government as it was a strategy by the government to divide and rule over the nonwhite vote.
During the negotiations to end apartheid the Interim Constitution was enacted. It introduced universal suffrage on a non-racial basis, and replaced first-past-the-post voting with party-list proportional representation. South Africans of all races took part in the first fully democratic elections in 1994.
In the post-apartheid era, the Constitutional Court has struck down two attempts by the government to deny the vote to convicted criminals in prison. The court has also ruled that South Africans living outside the country must be allowed to vote. In 2020 in the New Nation Movement case the court ruled that the pure party-list electoral system is unconstitutional because it prevents individuals from standing as candidates without joining a political party; Parliament was given two years to adopt a new electoral system. As of the 2024 General Elections a third provincial ballot was adopted.
Each voter in South Africa is assigned to a voting district based on the voter's residence at the time that they registered to vote. Each voting district is uniquely associated with a single voting station. Voters who are outside their registered district on election day may vote at another polling station, but additional paperwork is required.
Current Electoral System in South Africa
Elections in South Africa are held every five years for the National Assembly, provincial legislatures, and municipal councils. The Electoral Commission (IEC), an independent body, conducts these elections.
Every South African citizen who is 18 or older is eligible to vote in elections for the National Assembly, including those residing outside South Africa. Voters must be registered with the Electoral Commission and possess an identity card or book.
The electoral system for the National Assembly and provincial legislatures is based on party-list proportional representation. Since 2024, independent candidates have also been able to stand for election. For municipal councils, a mixed-member system is used.
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