To be a good guest at a dinner or braai‚ try not to talk about politics. That’s because only two out of ten people would actually be interested in the topic‚ according to an Ipsos poll on South Africans’ intention to vote in the upcoming municipal elections.The survey found that only about a fifth (19%) of South Africans are “very interested” in politics and elections. Overall‚ men are more interested in politics than women.A worrying finding for the Electoral Commission‚ political parties and other groups who want to promote the participation of the youth in the democratic process‚ is that over four in every ten (41%) of those 18 to 24 years old are not interested in politics and elections‚ the pollsters said in a statement on Friday.The poll signalled a protest vote over poor service delivery could be a feature of the municipal elections‚ which are scheduled for later this year. The exact date has not yet been announced.In total 77% of adult South Africans said they are likely to vote. Ipsos noted‚ however: “A possible voter turnout of 77% in a local government election would be a good turnout‚ but this cannot (yet) be considered as a given‚ as about a third of possible voters have agreed with the statement ‘I will seriously consider not voting in the 2016 local government election because I am unhappy with service delivery’.“These findings indicate that only about four in 10 possible voters are really committed to voting. This proportion is about the same as the proportion indicating that they think their local authority is doing its work well.“It is clear that a majority of possible South African voters are not happy with the services received from their local authorities and that this can possibly influence their participation in the democratic process.”The market and opinion research company said 3‚617 randomly chosen adult South Africans were interviewed in their homes and home languages in September/October 2015. Areas ranged from metropolitan to rural...