Editorial: Restore trust in the system

City Press writes that there are 35 million South Africans who were eligible to vote in the elections last week. Only 26 million bothered to register to vote. Of that number, only 17 million actually voted on Wednesday.

In percentage terms, 65% of the registered voters cast their ballot.

In 2014 the turnout was at 73%, quite high and consistent with the voting patterns since the dawn of democracy in 1994.

Compared with other nations internationally, 65% could be considered a relatively high number. But by our standards this represents a real and worrying drop.

We should be able to read these stats for what they are: A warning sign that more and more people are becoming disenchanted with our politics.

What is even more worrying is that the youth, who are the future, are the ones most disillusioned with the electoral politics.

To read the full City Press article, click here.