What the ANC’s legacy means for South Africa’s past and future

On the campus of Johannesburg’s Wits University, a troupe of student actors is performing a pop-up parody of the election.

People turned out in large numbers to vote here – many of them, like medical student Nobuhle Khumalo, for the first time.

She’s excited about change but doesn’t know what it means: “We’re just going to see what it looks like as it unfolds.”

We’re chatting on the grounds in front of the library with two of her friends, Mr Setsiba and music student Silka Graetz.

They hope a coalition government will bring more accountability and transparency, but are wary it might result in greater political instability and dysfunction.

“I think the increase of votes with other parties definitely creates a healthy competition,” says Ms Graetz.

“And I think with healthy competition comes better service, just an improvement in so many different fields.”

Young people, many of whom did not experience apartheid, were more willing than their parents to abandon the ANC, powered by concerns about their future.

Some 45% of South Africa’s youth are unemployed, the highest recorded rate in the world.

“When it’s campaign time you’re not speaking to issues that concern young people,” says Mr Setsiba, criticizing government budget cuts to education in recent years.

“Pour funds into universities, stimulate entrepreneurship, and make it a thriving country for new businesses!”

Ms Graetz warns that it will be important to restore investor confidence in the country in order to improve the economy.

Both she and Mr Setsiba are preparing to graduate, so launching into the job market is at the top of their minds.

Ms Graetz is acutely aware that her future will be formed in the next four or five years, the time period before the next election.

“The one question I have is: ‘How long we have to wait to see something [change]?’” she says. “I think there’s been a big attitude shift. How much longer until that’s put into action?”

It took 30 years for the ANC to be held to account for its failures. South Africa’s younger generation is not prepared to wait that long.