Why aren’t more young South Africans registering to vote? Why do so many seem disconnected from political parties and political conversations? And why does politics often appear to struggle to capture their attention?

Perhaps we have been asking the wrong question. As Phumi Mashigo recently put it in an interview with SABC News: “I think that people, the young people in particular, they are not disinterested. They are disappointed.”

That distinction matters. Because being disinterested suggests that young people simply do not care. Being disappointed suggests something very different: that they cared, they hoped, they expected more, and somewhere along the way, they became disillusioned.

Research backs up that distinction. An HSRC study found that young people’s reluctance to vote is linked to dissatisfaction with government performance, political parties and democracy itself. Many still believe voting matters, but feel that their individual vote will not make a meaningful difference. And perhaps that should be a wake-up call for political leaders.

Young South Africans are living with the consequences of political decisions every day. They experience unemployment, crime, unreliable services, rising living costs and limited opportunities. Local government is particularly important because it is where many of these issues become tangible: the water that does or does not come out of a tap, the rubbish that is or isn’t collected, the roads that are maintained or ignored, and the opportunities available in communities.

So the challenge cannot simply be to tell young people to “vote.”

The bigger challenge is to give them a reason to believe that participating matters. If young people are disappointed, politicians need to ask themselves why. What are they offering? Are they listening? Are they speaking to young people as citizens with agency, or simply as a demographic to be targeted during election season?

The 4 November elections are therefore about more than convincing young people to put a cross next to a party or candidate. They are about rebuilding a relationship between young citizens and the political system.

Because perhaps the most dangerous assumption we can make is that young people have stopped caring. They may care deeply. They may simply be waiting for something – and someone – worth believing in.

Watch the full interview on YouTube