Chapter 1: Introduction

South Africa as a young democracy has come of age. The born-frees qualified to vote for the first time in the national and provincial elections in 2014. They were then considered adult enough to contribute to the direction the country is taking by voting for their own political party, president, and provincial premiers. They voted for the first time in the year 2016 at municipal and local government level. Like South Africa, they also turned 25 years old in 2019.

South Africa's population stands among the youngest in the world at an average age of 24.9 years. According to Statistics South Africa (2019), South African citizens under the age of 35 years constitute 77.6% of the total population, with