Making Sense | Is South Africa Losing Faith In Democracy? | 18 September 2026

Making Sense | Is South Africa Losing Faith In Democracy? | 18 September 2026 Vusi.Bafetane Fri, 09/18/2026 - 20:33

A Democracy Can Survive Anger. Indifference Is More Dangerous

When voting starts to feel disconnected from daily life, the deeper question is whether democratic institutions can still make citizenship feel consequential.

South Africa’s democratic debate is often framed around turnout: who votes, who stays home and how to persuade more people to participate. But low participation can be a symptom rather than the disease. The harder question is what happens when citizens retain the right to vote while losing confidence that political participation will materially change their lives.

That distinction sits at the centre of Francis Herd’s argument in Making Sense. She points to a sharp reversal in reported satisfaction with democracy and then asks what may sit beneath it: corruption, political behaviour and, crucially, the feeling that political rights have not translated into economic inclusion. Her blunt summary is the question democratic systems should fear most: “So why bother?”

The vote is equal. Lived power is not.

Democracy gives citizens an equal formal say at the ballot box. Daily life does not distribute power, security or opportunity so evenly. A person may be constitutionally equal while still feeling economically excluded, unable to improve their circumstances or doubtful that government can deliver basic services.

That gap matters because democratic legitimacy is not sustained by procedure alone. Elections provide a mechanism for choosing representatives, but people judge the system through experience. If public institutions repeatedly appear unresponsive, participation can begin to feel symbolic rather than effective.

This is particularly visible in local government, where politics meets the ordinary routines of life most directly. Roads, refuse collection, water, electricity and municipal administration are not abstract expressions of democracy. They are among the places where citizens test whether public authority can still respond.

Trust is practical before it is philosophical

Herd extends the argument beyond government. She says institutions such as universities and the media once helped provide a “shared common reality”. Her point is not that these institutions were ever infallible. She explicitly acknowledges that “the media has fallen short and trust has crashed”.

The consequence is larger than reputation. Democratic disagreement requires some common factual ground. Citizens do not need to agree on policy, ideology or political leadership, but public debate becomes harder when people no longer agree on what information can be trusted at all.

Social media intensifies that pressure. Herd argues that algorithms can reinforce existing beliefs by repeatedly serving people more of what they already favour. The result can be greater certainty inside smaller information worlds, combined with growing hostility towards people outside them.

When complexity loses to simple blame

Economic exclusion, institutional distrust and fragmented information create another vulnerability: complex problems become easier to reduce to simple enemies.

Herd’s warning about populism is built around that mechanism. Complicated social and economic failures rarely have one cause, yet political movements can gain traction by offering one diagnosis, one group to blame and one sweeping solution. That simplicity can become especially attractive when people already feel shut out, unheard or uncertain.

The democratic challenge is therefore bigger than turnout. Telling people that voting matters cannot, by itself, restore confidence in the institutions surrounding the vote. Trust has to be earned through responsiveness, accountability and evidence that participation can still produce consequence.

A healthy democracy does not require citizens to be satisfied, quiet or trusting by default. Criticism is part of democratic life. The more dangerous moment comes when criticism hardens into resignation and citizens stop expecting the system to respond at all.

References

Making Sense, 18 September 2026, episode transcript.

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