”You have the power of X!” That’s the message to the youth in the Independent Electoral Commission’s (IEC) new advertising campaign in the run-up to the local-government elections. The campaign is perhaps the poppiest yet to be run by the IEC, but it also takes its tone from the idea of ”ordinary people speaking to ordinary people” more than previously, when celebrities such as Kabelo and Tim Modise were used to spread the message of registration and voting.
Chief electoral officer Pansy Tlakula confirmed to the Mail & Guardian that there is a focus on youth this year, especially in the television and radio ads. The former feature up-and-coming group Kwani Experience and form a neat little pop video, while the latter comprises a series of songlets with different voices and melodies, but all emphasising the same point. It was felt, says the IEC’s Sibongisene Dlamini, that it would help the youth ”internalise” the message if they could sing along. With at least half the potential electorate falling into the youth category, such a focus is justified.
At the same time, though, the billboards and posters of the campaign are aimed more broadly at everyone who has the right to vote, with ordinary people of different racial groups providing the faces to go alongside the basic information about how to find out about registration and voting stations — the website, the toll-free number and the short message service (SMS). ”I’m told the jingle also appeals to older people,” says Tlakula with a laugh.
The last local-government elections, in 2000, saw a turnout of 48% of the total possible electorate. Tlakula says it would be great to increase that figure, though traditionally there is a poorer turnout for local elections than for national elections and she says she’ll be happy if the IEC manages at least to keep that figure stable to avoid any decrease. The response so far seems to have been good, with calls to the IEC call centre rising by 20% a day over the past week.
The IEC also feels it is important to tell youthful voters-to-be that when they turn 16 and get an identity book, they are now officially South African citizens, with the right and the responsibility to vote, and that from that age on they can register — even if they have to wait another two years till they can actually vote.