Hesitancy to participate in South African local government elections – rural voter’s perspective

ABSTRACT South Africa’s 2021 local government elections witnessed the lowest voter turnout since the advent of democracy. This reflects a longer trajectory of declining voter turnout. The primary objective of this paper was to discuss factors that contributed to the hesitancy of the electorate in participating in local government elections in South Africa particularly the rural perspective. The study employed qualitative approaches, designs and methods. It relied mostly on literature review and utilised document review of reports and plans in order to gather data. The findings highlight that this behaviour reflects how political parties treat the electorate once elected in municipal councils. Furthermore, elections no longer offer hope for the improvement of the lives of voters. The other factors contributing to low turnout at the polls include political, social, economic perceptions of the voters. This article recommends that multisectoral efforts be concerted to address the major challenge at hand.