Africa: 16 June 2022 marks the 46 years after the Soweto youth uprisings when the youth of those days decided to stand up and react to the type of oppression they faced.
This year’s youth month is celebrated to promote sustainable livelihood and resilience of young people for a better tomorrow.Â
It was all in the mind of the youth of 1976 to revolt against what was a stumbling block toward their freedom, and they stood up for a better tomorrow, which we are experiencing today.
It is always relevant and important that the sacrifices and contributions made by the youth of 1976 are always celebrated as they were collectively fighting against systematic oppression.
The action of the youth of 1976 shall always be viewed as a progressive move by the children of the soil since they were fighting against another form of colonialism and oppression where its protracted long-term ideology was to do away with the African culture beginning by wiping away our languages.
At that time, the youth knew very well that allowing the imposition of Afrikaans as the second language of the oppressors to be also used as the medium of instruction at schools would mean they also participate in advancing the political ideology of the white minority rule, which they had during the rebellion and the debate over the National Flag against the union Jack in 1928 which was part of JBM Hertzog`s two-stream policy which was stipulating that the British and Afrikaner (Dutch) would be free from domination by the other; as a result, Afrikaans and English shall flow together.
All such debates and compromises made by the colonisers were happening to exclude the Africans.
Today the constitution of the Republic of South Africa recognises African Languages as languages equal to other languages spoken within the borders of the country. It is, therefore, a challenge to every one of us to ensure that the equality of languages as expressed by the Constitution is practically found in all communication platforms, in that we will recognise the important role played by the youth of 1976.
As STLM, we acknowledge that there is a lot that still needs to be done to advance the interest of the youth, as we all know that our youth is facing many challenges.
It would not be proper for anyone, especially those who have been given a responsibility to lead to act as if they are unaware of the challenges facing our youth today.
Among others, the youth of today is facing the challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality; in an attempt to address the challenges facing our youth, we need to make resources available for the promotion of small business development, and we need the private sector to play a role in terms of making the learner ships available to our youth, the private sector should assist all levels of government in supporting the youth development programs.
Due to the labour-related instability experienced within the municipality, there is very little that has been done for the benefit of the youth; the following is part of what has been done during the 2021/ 2022 financial year:
- Career Exhibition
- Revival of the local drug action committee
- Grade 9 career guidance
- Grade 8 and 9 school safety
- Sports tournament for netball and soccer
- Training of referees for both netball and soccer
- Revival of sports council and
- Enterprise development and training
As STLM, we encourage the youth to remain focused, no matter how unfavourable conditions are. We further request the youth to assist those trapped in substance abuse who are involved in criminal acts to refrain from such and concentrate on dealing with the challenges facing them, among others, poverty, inequality and unemployment.
As the Executive Mayor of STLM, I will be hosting a youth summit where there shall be engagements with the youth and the way forward be developed that will enable us to face the youth challenges in Steve Tshwete collectively.
