We should lower the voting age to 16

The Council of Europe’s recent call for its members to investigate lowering the voting age to 16, while not a novel idea, is undoubtedly a controversial one. In South Africa the idea of lowering the voting age was first raised by former president Nelson Mandela in 1994 when, in an interview with Time magazine (May 9), he proposed a voting age of 14 in recognition of the role of the youth in our struggle for liberation.

While the proposal did not pass, it does expose the ambiguous and inconsistent position of the South African state, and successive ANC-led governments, on the youth, revealing a lack of vision and consistent, coherent and carefully thought-through policy on youth affairs.

The Constitution ensures universal adult suffrage and grants every adult citizen the right to vote in elections or stand for and hold public office, the exact interpretation of “adult” remains ambiguous.

In enumerating the rights of “children”, the Constitution defines a child, for the purposes of that section, as anyone younger than 18. But ANC-sponsored legislation allows individuals between the ages of 12 and 16 years to engage in sexual experimentation with partners also below the age of 16. The age of consent for homosexual relations has been lowered from 19 to 16 years, for both genders.

Additionally, individuals older than 12 may obtain an abortion without parental consent and no person may refuse to sell or provide condoms or other contraceptives to a person older than 12 and this does not require parental consent either.

The Basic Conditions of Employment Act further makes it is a criminal offence to employ a child under the age of 15, except if you have a permit from the department to employ children in the performing arts.

Curiously, the age at which smoking tobacco products is legal was increased from 16 to 18, and there is increasing lobbying to raise the drinking age to 21, most notably by the ANCYL.

Individuals under 18 have been granted virtually unrestricted responsibility and control over their sexual, reproductive and employment affairs, but the age of majority — when a person enjoys all the privileges and responsibilities of adulthood, such as voting, marriage and financial independence — is still at 18, having been lowered from 21.

Similarly, the Constitution grants every citizen (without qualification of age) the right to make political choices, form and participate in the activities or recruitment of a political party and to campaign for a party or cause.

Indeed, South African political parties allow participation by citizens older than 16, but no party actively campaigns on or pursues the possibility of lowering the voting age, and no political party has indicated a desire to open the subject for discussion.

It is unfortunate that young South Africans are, instead, treated like voting fodder, required to participate, but have no formal and official stake in the running of their affairs.

The report tabled by the Council of Europe duly noted “an increasingly low turnout at elections throughout Europe” among the 18 to 24 age group in particular, citing research that indicates “that the longer young people have to wait to participate in political life, the less engaged they are in their adult life”. The report also warned that in the absence of meaningful and effective avenues for political participation, young people risk being marginalised in national debates.

Furthermore, advocates for lowering the voting age in Europe argue that:

“There are obvious civil-rights issues in discriminating against 16 and 17-year-olds by denying them the right to vote, especially those that are in full-time employment and pay taxes. Although there is no constitutional guarantee against taxation without representation, there is strong tradition in common law that people who pay taxes are entitled to some say in how their tax money is spent.”

Additionally they correctly note that “the most compelling argument in countries that have lowered the voting age is that our current generation of teenagers, owing to the proliferation of high-speed interactive media (ie the internet) is the most politically aware and educated ever”.

Having engaged with high school students recently on issues of South African politics, it was evident that these young South Africans are as, if not more, politically aware, and “politically competent”, as most South Africans aged 18 and older.

It seems rather unfortunate that the government entrusts young South Africans with increasing responsibilities in their personal and social affairs, while seeking to reduce their capacity for independent decision-making and action in others.

Annually, in commemoration of June 16, we laud the efforts of the youth and encourage greater active involvement in determining their future and charting the future of the country.

With the socio-economic challenges facing the youth, and with almost 50% of young South Africans unemployed, it is not unreasonable to advocate for greater input and official channels for participation by the youth, especially considering the dismal failure and lack of accountability of the National Youth Development Agency and the titular ministry heading “youth affairs”.

The youth make up a sizable portion of the population, and lowering the voting age has the potential to inject much-needed vertical accountability into the system to ensure that the government and state effectively address the needs and challenges facing the youth.

Furthermore, with spiralling unemployment and poverty, it is argued that political inclusion, through lowering the voting age, is one key step Africa can take “to convert the ‘youth bulge’ from a threat into a development opportunity”.

Indeed, the decision to set the minimum voting age at 18 is increasingly seen as one based “more on tradition and less on careful observation of social, economic and political realities”. Significant changes in population features, increased access to education, greater access to information and communication technology and enhanced political awareness has arguably “significantly improved decision-making among Africa’s youth”.

As Dr Stuart Bramhall correctly highlights: “The only argument I have seen against reducing the voting age is that 16 and 17-year-olds are still getting to know themselves and are incapable of exercising good political judgement. If we followed this argument to its logical conclusion — that self-knowledge and good judgement is essential for reasonable participation in the electoral process — the US would have to increase the voting age to 40.”

There seems no logical reason to bar 16-year-olds from participating in elections when they are already encouraged to actively contribute to political parties and are given greater responsibilities in affairs that were previously considered the prerogatives of “adults”.

More than 17 years after Madiba’s proposal, the time is ripe for us to yet again earnestly consider and debate this issue. The youth must demand more than mere lip-service from their political representatives and parties and be at the frontline in ensuring their voice is heard and concerns addressed.