Joburg poet builds a free, non-partisan voting tool to assist the undecided voter

On Wednesday the 4th of November, South Africans head to the polls to participate in the 2026 local government elections. The elections take place in an unprecedented context shaped by the Electoral Amendment Act, outcomes from the Madlanga commissions that have drawn insights on the governance of the country through its policing and heightened discontent across the board with the service that has been received in communities since the coalition government. A government structure once hoped to bring needed change has been met with mixed views of discontent and disappointment. This has led to many young voters being undecided in who they will vote for and what should shape their decision.

 Responding to this, poet TK Kutama (“MrTK” ) (23) decided to build a free, non-partisan voting tool to assist the undecided voter called Voto, a free website, a web-based tool that works in any browser on a phone or computer at voto.co.za.

“Before these elections I realised I didn’t know who to vote for, so I asked my dad to explain the local elections to me. That conversation became a poem I performed at a gig, and the poem became Voto”, MrTK.

Once you visit the site and share the link to begin the quiz, users get to respond to 25 statements about things their municipality actually controls, covering themes such as rates and tariffs, free basic services, water and electricity, corruption and governance, housing and land, safety, the local economy, coalitions and transport. 

For most statements, users choose on a scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree, and they can mark the statements that matter most to them. 

“It takes about five minutes. Voto then shows how closely their answers match each party’s positions, scored only from that party’s own 2026 local government manifesto. Every result includes a ‘Why you matched’ breakdown showing the manifesto line behind each score, and where a manifesto says nothing on an issue, it’s marked ‘not addressed’ instead of guessed. Voto doesn’t test what you know or tell you who to vote for. It shows what parties have promised, in their own words, as a starting point for your own research”, he adds. 

“Talking to people my age, I realised that most young and first-time voters aren’t apathetic. They’re overwhelmed. There’s so much information coming at us: long manifestos, rallies, speeches”.

To simplify the feeling of being an overwhelmed first-time voter and to build the confidence of the voter, MrTK describes the Voto tool as a simple place to start. 

“It shows you what each party says it will do in your municipality, and how it says it will do it, if it gets its hands on that budget. Voto isn’t a crystal ball. It can’t tell you what a party will do, but it can show you what they’ve promised, in their own words, so you can start your own research from there”.

Building active and responsible civic participation is at the heart of MrTK’s tool.

“I realised that if we give up on holding politicians accountable, each generation will care a little less about holding them accountable, and that’s not what I want for my generation of South Africans. Being informed is where accountability starts. You can’t hold someone to a promise you never knew they made”, he passionately adds. 

The tool was launched in October and had about 800 visits upon launching, and through extended media engagement, its traffic went up in the thousands, highlighting the need for simplified civic tools to support the engagement of young people with the electoral process.

“It’s been doing so well; I’m excited. Voto launched on 12 October and had about 800 visits in its first two days. The day after launch, I was a guest on the Tuks FM breakfast show [Tuks FM interview clip]. Then actor Tumisho Masha spoke about Voto on Kaya Breakfast with DJ Fresh, and visits to the site jumped to around 7,000.  [Kaya FM clip]. 

Thinking now for the future, MrTK hopes to see more young people engage with the electoral process and build similar tools. 

“I’d love to see more of that energy, and more young people building tools, making content and starting conversations that help their friends make sense of politics. Information is too hard to get to. Manifestos are long and hard to compare, and once an election is over, very few people go back to check whether the promises were kept. I’d like to see promises that are easier to find, easier to understand, and easier to track after the votes are counted. Like a reporting app or something along those lines”, MrTK. 

MrTK’s actions are a testament to the proactive nature that exists among young people whose relationship with the electoral process has evolved from passive to present. Youth network Activate Change Drivers, who launched a civic education toolkit in 2022, received notice of this tool with great excitement and interest to amplify it amongst its 5000-youth network. 

“Voto was built for the 2026 elections, but I don’t want it to end on the 4th of November. I’d like to grow it in three ways: helping people check back on what their councils promised and whether it happened, taking Voto into schools, universities and youth groups so first-time voters understand local government before they need it, and building a version for the 2029 national and provincial elections”, he adds.

Visit the VOTO website on: voto.co.za and email: votonetwork@gmail.com

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About the Author:

 Zamayirha Peter is the founder of the social enterprise Ideas That Walk and an advocacy communications specialist with a decade of experience spanning multimedia journalism and strategic communications.