The Daily Maverick reports that the IEC will be going on a massive registration drive this weekend, in a bid to get our apathetic youth to the polls. That’s you, bru. They want you to get off the couch and go register.

Stephen Grootes, reporter for Eye Witness News, writes an insightful account of the voter statistics in South Africa:

Only 11.4% of 18 and 19 year olds are currently registered to vote, of those aged 20 to 29, 53.7% are voters and 93% of those older than 30 are registered.

So in a nutshell, the old ballies are streaming to the polls, but the youngsters are staying away. This is especially worrying, according to Grootes:

Unfortunately, there’s a flip side to the apathy of those who aren’t registered. That they’ve simply given up and won’t bother to vote. That they think there’s no point, there’s no chance of their lives changing. This points to a loss of hope. And that’s dangerous, because these people now have nothing left to lose. The fact that they’re in their stone-throwing youth makes it even more worrying.

Ah, those were the days! My stone-throwing years just flew by! Nowadays when I try and skip a stone on the ocean I put my back out.  But the message is clear people. Put down your rocks, literal or figurative, and go register.

Click on the link below to read the entire article.

[source: The Daily Maverick]