Issues affecting today’s youth
ON YOUTH Day the country reflects on June 16, 1976, when the South African Students Movement with the support of the Black Consciousness Movement mobilised approximately 10 000 black students who peacefully marched against the introduction of Afrikaans as a compulsory medium of instruction in schools.
On their way to Orlando Stadium, they encountered armed members of the police force who hurled cans of tear gas in their direction and eventually opened fire on student demonstrators with live ammunition.
The first victim of this brutality was 12-year-old Hector Pieterson, who was killed by a bullet aimed directly at him. Others remembered on this day are Hastings Ndlovu, who was the first student to be shot, and Tebogo “Tsietsi” Mashinini, who later became a hero for his involvement in student politics.
While this incident helped change the course of South Africa, now, 42 years later, the youth have a host of other challenges to deal with, including crime, racism, inequality and scarcity of jobs.
Nivolen Naidoo, 20, of Mount Edgecombe, an undergraduate student at the Durban University of Technology, said he’s worried about the apparent increase in serious crime, including hijackings, organised robberies, cash-in-transit heists, murders and politically motivated killings.
“There are various community organisations that have surfaced in order to make residential areas a safer place but things have gotten out of hand lately. I believe that a stronger police presence in society is the way forward to alleviate crime and that it will make criminals think twice before
acting.”
Thando Nkosi, 24, an IT technician from uMlazi, is worried about the “state of equality within our nation”.
“Inequality is something that is very evident in today’s society. It is saddening to hear of stories of racial discrimination, religious intolerance and sexism,” Nkosi said. “Despite lots of effort to fight this, such happenings cannot be prevented every day. All cases that violate one’s right to equality should be dealt with fairly and seriously to deter offenders.”
Uvika Matadin, 21, of Reservoir Hills, an undergraduate student at the University of Cape Town, said she believed that materialism has “crippled youth from being the best version of themselves”.
“It is unfortunate that we live in a society that promotes materialism. Parents do their best to give children everything they want in an act of love and that indirectly creates financial dependence,” she said.
“Work ethic is often lost somewhere along the line and thus children grow up without understanding the concept of reward. This further affects the youth as the materialistic usually value possessions over relationships,” said Matadin.
This Saturday, South Africa will be heart in hand as we commemorate Youth Day. POST talks to youngsters in different communities in an attempt to uncover the issues that most affect our youth as a tribute to hundreds of black students who lost their lives in the 1976 Soweto Uprising.