Time for the Youth to Rediscover Their Militancy and Voices
Image: IOL archives
Edwin Naidu
South Africa observes June 16 on Monday, the day when youth revolted against Afrikaans as a compulsory school subject. Three decades into democracy, Afrikaans is entrenched as one of the country's official languages, almost five decades after the fight against it.
Ironically, Afrikaners remain in control of the economy, education, and media, with a significant presence in most learning institutions and the country's major media houses, including Media24 and MultiChoice (currently being sold to a French company).
Through fake news about a genocide which does not exist, Afrikaners also enjoy the remaining ear that snipers missed off US President Donald Trump. So far, 49 people deemed failed car guards and their ilk on social media platforms have been given asylum based on a phoney war against Afrikaners.
The war is in the racist minds, propagated by the likes of AfriForum, which seems emboldened after the ANC's 2024 knock at the polls, resulting in a Government of National Unity. So much for Jacob Zuma's once boastful quip that the ANC would rule until Jesus comes.
Of course, there's a greater chance of the ANC being out of power before Jesus comes in the next election than the NPA's ineffective Shamilla Batohi bringing in the Guptas to account for the millions they obtained under Zuma. However, the man from Nkandla appears to have amnesia about state capture.
Under the presidencies of Mandela, Mbeki, Mothlante, Zuma, and now Cyril Ramaphosa, subsequent governments have adopted a pro-poor stance while enriching themselves, the party and friends. A new black middle class has emerged under democracy, along with a black elite, some of whom are now close to the ruling party.
A story circulates that the ANC, bereft of leadership and lacking ideas, wants Patrice Motsepe to bankroll the party back into power. Whether or not it's true, it's another sign of a party in decline. Since the Mandela euphoria over democracy, everything hinges on whether the country is keeping its promise of a better life for all.
Another burning question is whether political greed is failing the youth? Ditto: women? Ditto: Heritage: Ditto: the Constitution? The conduct of politicians hardly inspires confidence. While South Africans remain mired in poverty, politicians in the GNU used R200 million of taxpayer money on expensive overseas travels. High-flier Deputy President Paul Mashatile alone spent more than R2 million on his travels. One wonders if he is making up for lost time, having joined the gravy train late.
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The government established Sector Education and Training Authorities to equip young people with the skills needed to address chronic unemployment. Unfortunately, there is no narrative about the success of SETAs.
Under the former Minister, Dr Blade Nzimande, SETAs were filled with boards comprising comrades from the Struggle, whose disastrous impact has hindered skills training but enriched many through unscrupulous means, without facing the consequences. Half of the country's 21 SETAs previously received adverse audits from the Auditor-General when Nzimande was in charge.
Most alarming, however, is that the SETAs were meant to transform the fortunes of the country's youth. Instead, it enriched those running SETAs and their associates.
His successor, Dr Nobuhle Nkabane, a former deputy under Gwede Mantashe, angered political rivals when she appointed the son of her former boss as a SETA Chair before protests forced her to withdraw the decision. She claimed an advisory board helped her make the choice, but in an age of transparency, she showed none, resulting in the president putting pressure on the gum-chewing Minister to do the right thing.
Politics is about serving the citizens of South Africa, not the party and friends. Politicians must put the people first. However, Nkabane undermines citizens by having a non-existent advisory board where a real board of experts could have helped ensure that South Africa's youth finally benefit from the skills revolution.
Former higher education ministers had advisors whose counsel they trusted. Nkabane must secure the help of many learned people available. Otherwise, the comrades will lead her astray.
Nkabane has highlighted the pressing issue of youth unemployment, insisting that SETAS must respond to the rapid pace of industry change.
However, suppose she needed reminding of the dire need to transform the fortunes of youth. In that case, it will not come from youth pensioners such as Julius Malema, Fikile Mbalula, or the recently put to pasture Floyd Shivambu.
The answer lies in the voices of young people who are fed up with political rhetoric, not just the noise from the trio of former youth league officials.
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Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad Loading The liberation movements in the Southern African region have not been able to dogwatch one another, to speak frankly, honestly, and without diplomatic pretence. At no point did SWAPO, FRELIMO, CCM, or MPLA rise with principled courage to say, for instance, to President Robert Mugabe, how you are governing Zimbabwe is unjust and unsustainable. The ANC, however, attempted what it called quiet diplomacy in Zimbabwe, urging the Zimbabwean leadership and people to resolve their problems internally and to avoid relying on externally imposed solutions. Unfortunately, that quiet diplomacy did not yield the desired results. The suppression of opposition parties and the stifling of democratic space persisted. This absence of honest, fraternal correction among liberation movements has weakened the moral centre of the liberation tradition itself. One hopes that this revived Party-to-Party diplomacy will correct that historical failure. It must not be reduced to celebratory declarations and performative solidarity. It must have political dog watching as a central tenet, a principled, fraternal mechanism through which liberation movements hold one another to the revolutionary values they once embodied: honesty, people-centred governance, democratic integrity, and moral courage. Not loyalty to incumbency, but loyalty to the people. The liberation movements must be brave enough to confront the objective reality of the evaporation of the liberation heritage. The fact of the matter is that across the African continent, the very parties that ushered in political freedom, that dismantled colonial rule, and held the dreams of the masses, are no longer the governing parties. In Ghana, the Convention People's Party (CPP) of Kwame Nkrumah, the first to proclaim African independence, has faded into political obscurity. In Zambia, UNIP, once the bastion of Southern African solidarity under Kenneth Kaunda, has been swept aside. 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This is no longer a theoretical concern. It is an urgent summons for introspection, ideological recalibration, and coordinated strategic renewal across the continent.
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