Student votes at tertiary institutions are not a guarantee of local election success

As political parties gear up to launch their local government election manifestos, political analyst Dr Ntsikelelo Breakfast has warned parties not to bank on students' vote.

Breakfast was reacting to the EFF’s victory at Mangosuthu University of Technology during the Students Representative Council election at the weekend. The EFF’s victory came after a few days of the party’s dismal performance in the eThekwini ward 64 by-election, where out of 5,000 votes cast, it only received 73. This happened while there is student accommodation in the ward -an anomaly the party was banking on.

Breakfast said that parties that have student bodies aligned to their parties should now learn that those students may not be their members but have joined a student organisation and not the party.

“This should be a warning to all parties, not only the EFF. Parties should not claim their aligned student bodies’ victories as a political victory and expect that those votes will assist them in other elections outside the tertiary institutions,” said Breakfast.

He said students are more interested in the educational issues at the institution rather than service delivery matters as they live on the campus or in the accommodation provided by the university outside the institution. 

“Many of the students you find in the big cities are there for their studies and come from different areas outside of the municipality where the city is located, therefore they would not have an interest in how it is run. Perhaps they can vote in provincial and national elections, however, this will not mean that they will choose the same party they voted to champion their issues within the tertiary institutions,” said Breakfast.

EFF spokesperson in KwaZulu-Natal, Chris Msibi said he partly agreed with Breakfast’s analysis but said political apathy was a factor, saying people had lost hope that politics will improve their lives. He said the use of resources by parties that control municipalities to pay people to vote for their parties is another major factor.

“During elections, parties, particularly those that control municipalities, set up tents and serve people food and give them blankets. They also advertise false job opportunities,” said Msibi.

wilem.phungula@inl.co.za