As South Africans continue to wait in anticipation for the outcome of the 2024 national elections, many students from the University of Johannesburg (UJ) were excited to make their mark.

Some were voting for the first time while others had their first taste of it during the municipal elections in 2021.

Nishka Kesa, 22, was surprised at just how nervous she was to vote.

“It was quite a big decision to make for me as someone from the youth and knowing that it is going to have an impact on future generations and South Africa as a whole. It was quite nerve wracking, I can’t lie.”

She walked to the voting station, which was at a high school near her home in Joburg South, with her dad.

“Unfortunately we had a mix up with the surnames, stood in the wrong queue but eventually we were moved to the right queue and voted.”

She said going into the voting station she was still in two minds about where her cross would end up, but it was her 15-year-old brother who gave her some advice on who to vote for. Nishka also read up on the different parties to help her make a decision.

“I went in thinking I was going to vote for one party but I went out voting for another party. I would like to see change in the form of no load shedding and improvement of the infrastructure in South Africa. We can’t drive properly on the roads because of the potholes because they are so bad.”

Jana du Plessis agreed that the load shedding situation was also a major change she wanted to see in the country. She also expressed how monetary resources can be better spent to help in this regard.

“I think if the people can be provided with their basic primary needs, the things they are paying for, that will be an upgrade.”

The 21-year-old enjoyed her voting experience as she got to vote with her two sisters. They didn’t have to wait too long to make their mark.

“I come from a small town, in Heidelberg, so we didn’t have to wait as long as the bigger towns. We waited for about an hour to vote.”

Jana knew who she would be voting for by the time she got to the voting station.

“As a family we had discussions about who we would vote for but it was still an individual decision to make at the end of the day.”

Marcio Rainho, 21, had to wait for about three hours before he could vote but did not let that deter him.

Like Jana, he had also spoken with his family about who they would vote for.

“I think there might be a change this year because of how the political parties have been promoting themselves, economically and structurally. But we will see how the results go.”

For Siyonela Hlazo, 18, this year was supposed to be his first time voting but he was unable to because he is registered in his hometown in Mthatha, Eastern Cape.

“I couldn’t make my way down there as I am living here in Joburg. I am numb about it because there was nothing I could do about it. Going further they need to make it easier for us to be able to vote from where we are because our circumstances don’t allow us to vote elsewhere. With 4IR, they can make the process more computerised where one can put in their ID number and they can check to see if they are registered to vote.”

Another student, who did not want to be named, wasn’t sure about his registration process and therefore did not register to vote.

“I thought I could only register physically at an IEC venue, I didn’t know that I could register online at all. I don’t think the IEC marketed this enough. They were supposed to market their processes on platforms where we can easily get that information like TikTok and Facebook and other social media platforms. I was quite confused about it.”

Other students said they hoped the new dispensation would look into the issues the students were facing including NSFAS and unemployment.