Stop using the jobless as political foot soldiers while offering them no future

In South Africa, where unemployment and hopelessness are rampant among the youth, a disturbing trend continues to take root: political parties across the spectrum are exploiting the desperation of disadvantaged young people for their own gain.

Every election cycle — whether national, provincial, or municipal — you’ll see thousands of young men and women clad in party colours, handing out pamphlets, chanting slogans, and rallying support in communities where unemployment often exceeds 60%. These are not paid campaign staffers or empowered activists. They are mostly unemployed youth, many of them hungry, overlooked, and frustrated — volunteering their time and energy in exchange for empty promises or, at best, a free T-shirt and a box of chicken.

This is not empowerment. It is exploitation. South Africa’s political parties, both old and new, know that our country’s greatest untapped resource is not its minerals or its land, but its youth — especially those who are out of school, out of work, and out of options. Instead of addressing the root causes of poverty and unemployment, politicians use the same young people they’ve failed to uplift as foot soldiers in their campaigns. These youth are asked to walk miles a day under the sun, campaign in communities plagued by crime, and even risk their lives in politically volatile regions — all for parties that will likely forget them once the ballots are counted.

They’re not given training, jobs, or a future. They’re given slogans. Worse still, the message being sent is deeply harmful: that your value as a young South African is conditional on your political loyalty, not your potential. That if you chant loud enough, dance hard enough, or fight opponents on social media, you might one day be rewarded — not with a job or a skill, but maybe a position in the local branch if you’re lucky. This is not democracy. It’s manipulation. The most dangerous outcome of this practice is not just that young people are being used and discarded — it’s that they are being taught to place their hope in party loyalty rather than in themselves or their communities. It breeds a generation that becomes dependent on political favour instead of demanding economic justice and sustainable solutions.

Some will argue that volunteering is a choice and that these young people are participating in democracy. But let’s be honest: there is a difference between informed civic participation and survival volunteering. When you have no job, no income, no hope, and someone offers you a sandwich and a sense of belonging, it’s not empowerment. It’s survival. It is the duty of political parties to inspire, yes — but more importantly, to deliver. And delivery does not mean absorbing a handful of youth into patronage networks. It means implementing policies that create jobs, improve education, support entrepreneurship, and give every young South African a real shot at dignity.

The youth of South Africa must refuse to be used. Their time, energy, and voice are valuable. They must demand more than food parcels and bus rides to rallies. They must demand internships, training programmes, seed funding for businesses, and seats at the table where decisions are made. They must question party manifestos, challenge empty rhetoric, and insist on results. Moreover, civil society, NGOs, and the private sector must step up. We cannot leave political education and youth mobilisation solely in the hands of political parties. There must be independent platforms where young people can organise, learn, and grow — without being turned into vote-gathering machines.

South Africa’s youth are not lazy, entitled, or apathetic — they are disillusioned, and rightly so. But disillusionment must not lead to resignation. It must lead to resistance: not against democracy, but against the cheapening of their future by those who see them as tools rather than citizens. As we head into another round of elections, we must ask ourselves: are we building a democracy based on empowerment, or one built on exploitation? Are we raising a generation of leaders, or just another group of volunteers waiting for the next campaign? The time has come for the youth of South Africa to realise their worth. Not as campaign volunteers — but as builders of their own future.

*Mayalo is an independent writer and the views expressed here are not necessarily those of IOL or Independent Media