In 1976 it was easy to tell who your enemies were, because they were white. “Today we cannot see who our oppressors are because they are black like us,” Azapo’s Hlangabeza Klaas told a gathering of young people from Makana, Ngqushwa and Ndlambe municipalities in Noluthando Hall in Joza last week.
In 1976 it was easy to tell who your enemies were, because they were white. “Today we cannot see who our oppressors are because they are black like us,” Azapo’s Hlangabeza Klaas told a gathering of young people from Makana, Ngqushwa and Ndlambe municipalities in Noluthando Hall in Joza last week.
The occasion was Youth Day, June 16, and the event was a public discussion at Noluthando Hall in Joza, that ranged from socio-economic and gender issues to political justice.
Organised by Masifunde Education and Development Project Trust, in partnership with Action Aid International, Rural People’s Movement and the Unemployed People’s Movement, local artists kept the mood light with poetry and drama.
The Rural People’s Movement's Nomonde Mbelekane said young people of today wanted fancy careers, but no access to quality education meant they were bound to be disappointed. “Education is still a big problem for rural young people, and that results in high unemployment,” said Mbelekane.
She urged young people to come together and form organisations to help them deal with such challenges, as well as alcohol and drug abuse. The Unemployed People’s Movement's Ayanda Kota lashed out at the ANC's "prescriptions" for the youth.
“Look, now, they are busy with the Makana Greening Project,” he said. “Who said that project is the priority of the people of Makana? “1994 did not bring change to people’s lives, therefore young people should stand up like the youth of 1976 and fight against this government.”
The young people there had their own views. “We are here to remember the young people who died on this day fighting against the use of Afrikaans at their schools. These political parties must stop confusing us,” said Ayanda Nondlwana, referring to parties who claimed the youth of 1976 as their own.
Another youngster said Kota’s view that 1994 had brought no change to people’s lives simply wasn't true. “Today we have RDP houses, electricity and we can easily access former model ‘C’ schools. Therefore we cannot say that there is no difference in our communities,” she said.
Petros Majola, from the Children’s Rights office in Peddie, warned young people against HIV/Aids, alcohol abuse and teenage pregnancy. “Young people of today rely on condoms for safety, instead of abstinence,” he said. “Even police officers with bullet proof vests never act carelessly, the way our children do with condoms."
