Our youth leading in elders’ footsteps

AS WE join in the celebrations of our youth tomorrow on their day, let us take a look back.

In this country, in particular our youth have historically led the way, which was painfully paved by their older counterparts.

The day commemorates June 16, 1976

– the Soweto uprising which began in the Johannesburg township made world famous by it, and spread countrywide to profoundly change the socio-political landscape in South Africa.

The day also became significant with the killing by police of the first child there, Hector Pieterson.

Hector, who was aged 12 at the time, became the subject of an iconic image of the uprising in 1976 when a news photograph by Sam Nzima of Hector’s body being carried by another student while his sister ran next to them, was published around the world.

The image turned the world’s gaze toward South Africa, putting the spotlight directly on the apartheid government’s cruel actions, and helped to put pressure on the then government to relinquish its stranglehold on people of colour.

Fast forward to the new millennium, where the youth have once again done their bit to shake the very core of government. We saw them bring down the statue of Cecil John Rhodes at th University of Cape Town, the very symbol of colonialism, an event which spawned the birth of the Fees Must Fall movement.

What happened next was, as they say, history. These are our children, born from South African soil, and raised by the hands that once upon a time not too long ago, brought an end to the tyranny that was apartheid.

We are already proud of our young people, and their journey is only just beginning. The potential SA has to offer is there for them to take.

It is of deep concern, however, that in recent months we’ve seen an increase in crime against children and teenagers. Let them not be discouraged by this, and let us be encouraged to make sure our children are not curtailed in any way.

After all, it is our duty to protect and nurture them to become the leaders that this country, and the world, so desperately needs.

The youth of today, like those of 1976 ,are leading in the footsteps of their elders.