Gen Z takes democracy front seat in 2024 polls
Lewanika Timothy | Tuesday November 5, 2024 14:40
'Gen Zs', a generation born between 1995 and 2012, are known for their radical approach to matters, a group that speaks truth to power and in the 2024 Botswana polls, they took centre stage, rallying the nation through a series of online campaigns. Polling station after polling station one could see young people standing in long queues to exercise their constitutionally enshrined right to vote. First-time voters, as they are called, took to social media to demonstrate their political activity by sharing pictures of their national identity and registration cards, rallying fellow online voters to go to the polls and vote. Botswana has experienced a fair amount of youth participation in politics, mainly through student strikes and non-violent protests against certain policy decisions.
This time around, the youth caucused online and chose a government that would rule Botswana for the next five years. Top of the Gen Z voter consideration list was economic policy, mainly focused on employment creation, which has been a scourge for the many young Batswana of this country. Across various social media platforms, one could get the sense that unemployment was the anchor bone of contention influencing voter behaviour. Data from Statistics Botswana recently showed that from a total of around one million Batswana who are eligible and actively seeking employment, almost a quarter of them cannot find footing in the local labour market, which is bloated and has no room for new entrants. The figures are part of a larger trend, which depicts a decades-old sting that has been biting away the success story of Botswana’s diamond-dependent economy.
According to figures from Statistics Botswana’s Quarterly Multi-Topic Survey on labour, unemployment has been in an upward motion, quarter-on-quarter. In 2019, the unemployment figure stood at just a little under 200,000 but climbed up the ladder to the current 287,000. “The Q1 2024 Quarterly Multi-Topic Survey results estimated the total of currently unemployed persons at 287,060. This was an increase of 11,900 (4.3 percent) from the 275,160 that was estimated for Quarter Three of 2023. For Quarter Three of 2019, the total of currently unemployed persons was estimated at 194,990. The total of unemployed increased to 211,743 in Q4 2019, indicating a quarterly increase of 8.6 percent,” stated the report. During the first quarter of 2024, unemployed youth was estimated at 38.2%. The most affected by unemployment were youth whose highest educational attainment was secondary school, who accounted for 68.7% of all unemployed youth, followed by university graduates at 13.8%. Those who completed primary school only, and technical/vocational certificate holders each recorded 5.4 and five percent respectively.
Unemployed secondary school graduates comprise 51.5% of the male population and 48.8% of the female population. During the reporting period, the total number of youth not in education, employment, or training from QMTS Quarter One 2024 results was estimated at 342,809 persons. Renowned economist, Keith Jefferis, whilst delivering an economic update in Gaborone recently, revealed that Botswana was entering an abyss moment macro-economically as troubled diamond market woes are expected to worsen, leading to a further slowing down of an economy that will most likely create more job cuts. Other economists have pointed out that Botswana may be in a technical recession, with negative growth expected in both the first and second quarter of the year. Recessions by their nature thwart employment creation efforts and are even associated with job cuts as production rates fall in most industries. “Unemployment has risen and we expect it to continue to rise given the problems in the broader economy, especially the slowdown associated with the diamond sector,” Jefferis said. The International Monetary Fund estimates that annually 35,000 graduates hit the job market in Botswana and creating jobs for these young men and women has, however, proved to be an uphill task for both government and the private sector.
Political parties were not blind to the fact that first-time voters have swaying ability, from the beginning of this year, political rallies and campaigning messages were more digitised than in past elections all in an effort to snare the young demographic. The Botswana Democratic Party, for example, modernised their campaign strategy anchored by acting videos whose star cast was President Mokgweetsi Masisi, launching his key initiatives like Chema Chema through social media platforms. The snare set for young people was also visible through heightened social media posts, pictures, and posts that were meant to capture the attention of young people. Government's quick rebuttal to social media fake news also demonstrated the identity dent government was averting.