Cape Town - The June 1976 Soweto uprisings continue
to be a reminder to society of the youth’s
role in bringing change to their communities.
This year’s commemoration compelled young people to come up with programmes that will respond to the current issues
facing not just young people, but
society at large.
Some of the major challenges facing our society is the rise in the number of gender-based violence incidents, the everyday killings of young women by people who are meant to love them, youth unemployment and inequality in society.
History helps us in observing the flow of different events over the past years. It gives us a perspective to reflect on how much has really changed in the country since the 1994 moment.
The structural make-up of the country still remains the same. It is hard to overlook such as this affirms what former president Thabo Mbeki said in his speech that we continue to be a country of “two nations”.
One nation is that of the haves and the other is that of the have-nots.
Just this past week in the Western Cape we’ve had a lot of rain, which I can simply argue one nation in this country appreciated and welcomed.
For the other part of this country this unfortunately means the flooding of their houses, forcing them to move out to stay in cold community halls until the rain subsides. We’ve also seen a total disregard of legislation or regulations by the City of Cape Town where people were evicted from their houses in this type of weather.
One can also not run away from the fact that the second nation of the “have-nots” has a particular colour or creed. The other world at the moment seems to be at a standstill around racism which continues to rear its ugly head globally.
We’ve seen a rise in protest across the globe because of incidents related to racism. This has been ongoing and certainly there is a link between what happened in June 1976 with what is happening in the world today. It is painful to see that we continue to live in numbers because of racism.
The likes of Tsietsi Mashinini and
others are turning in their graves because
black people continue to suffer because of their skin colour.
The world was/is at a standstill because of the Covid-19 pandemic which has now been with us for a few months while racism has been in existence for centuries.
Commemorating the youth of 1976, the generation of Mashinini, and also reflecting on some of the work by young people of this country recently especially in higher learning institutions which sparked a lot of formations such as #RhodesMustFall and #FeesMustFall compels us to reflect on some of the work around theoretical work followed by a well-planned programme of action to bring the change needed in this country.
We’ve failed in terms of the praxis which will bring the necessary change to this country.
This for me means to dismantle this accepted culture of having those who own and have everything while the majority are at the mercy of such people.
There is also a need for young people to find each other with those who are considered elderly.
Intergenerational conversations and working partnerships are very important in bringing the necessary change needed in South Africa.
As we remember the youth of 1976, and the #FeesMustFall 2015-16, we are no longer the “born free” generation.
I call on all young people of South Africa to reflect and ask themselves what their role in society is and whether they think they have been playing that role.
It begins with knowing and appreciating their rights and responsibilities in changing their society.
A call for the removal of colonial monuments because they are a constant reminder of our past continues to haunt
us today.
The destruction of statues should
be extended to anything that is a reminder of our unfortunate past, such as names of countries, languages, and anything that is a reminder.