Youth disillusioned with South Africa, politics

Some 63% of 10-12 year olds and 77% of 13-15 year olds agree that the government is not living up to its promises. In the 16-24 year age group, almost 90% believe this too. Furthermore, amongst the 10-15 year age group, 83% think that the government is dishonest.

Youth Dynamix currently runs one of the largest syndicated research studies on youth in Sub-Saharan Africa and has 10 years worth of trended data with which it can compare its latest research results.

"These negative attitudes have spilled over into young people's political views, they have come to think of politics as worthless nonsense," said Andrea Kraushaar, insights and research director at the company. "They don't see the point in having political opinions or affiliations as they don't think that political parties can make a positive difference in their lives."

Specifics on disappointment

Other figures concerned the specific areas in which the youth feel that the government has disappointed them. While the respondents expressed a firm belief that education is a stepping stone to a successful career, more than half of those between the ages of 10-15 felt that the standard of education is inferior to that in other countries.

Following from this, 62% of 10-15 year olds and 73% of 16-24 year olds agreed that it is impossible to get a job in South Africa. This is a major factor driving their intention to immigrate permanently - 31% of 10-12 year olds, 37% of 13-15 year olds and 40% of 16-24 year olds expressed a desire to do this as soon as possible.

On their opinions on the country's crime levels, 81% of 10-12 year olds, 87% of 13-15 year olds and 91% of 16-24 year olds agreed that crime is out of control in South Africa. More than half of the 10-15 year olds said that this was the main motivation behind their plans of leaving the country permanently.

"Based on our findings, we foresee an escalation in the brain drain crisis which is already taking its toll on the country's economy," said Kraushaar. "It would take a dramatic improvement in the performance of the government to regain the trust of its younger citizens and convince them that there is a bright future for them here in South Africa."