I get upset when people say they not going to vote

For me that is alarming because most of them are being funded by government for their studies. Some had easy access to university and that is how they see 20 years of democracy being paid off?

In our townships people complain about service delivery. If people do not vote then how will they make sure that service delivery happens in their communities? And who are they going to complain to about social issues?

I suspect that most people who are not going to vote are those who used to vote for the ANC and now they are disappointed at the party. They think the best solution for them is not to vote.

If people want change why can’t they vote for a different party or invest their X on the party they already know in the hope that things will change for the better? It is said that your vote is your voice, but if you are not voting then you are silencing yourself.

For all those people who are not voting I hope you will never complain about anything that the government is doing wrong and you will never gain anything from the government because you are not playing a part in changing the country.

Twenty years of democracy did not just happen by people sitting in their homes and complaining about the struggles and the government. Our parents and grandparents had to stand in line for hours just to see the changes we enjoy today and the new South Africa that we see.

The country is far from perfect. There is no country that is perfect and all political parties have hidden agendas.

At the end of the day it is about a person participating in the matters of her own country.

The author is a journalist for GroundUp. This is her personal opinion.