IT CAN’T BE LEFT TO ELDERS TO FIGHT ROT
THE youth of South Africa must take their rightful place in the leadership of society. Youth must refuse to be told continuously that they are the leaders of tomorrow.
Youth, despite being a majority in society, are not infused in positions of authority in our various institutions.
June 16 1976 came as a result of the fearless radicalness of young people. The radicalisation of the ANC in 1949 came as a result of the radical exuberance of the young lions such as Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo, Walter Sisulu, Anton Lembede and others.
Today, national social discourse in South Africa emerged from militant students. The #RhodesMustFall movement led to a national wave that challenged the symbols of apartheid and the stubborn persistence of the system in a democratic society.
The #FeesMustFall movement was led by radical students, tired of being told that free education will one day arrive without a clear programme to achieve it.
It was the impatient youth of the ANC who resolved on a generational mission for economic freedom at the congress of the youth league in 2011. This generation changed the national economic discourse and instigated for the redistribution of wealth by deracialising the means of production and ownership of the land and mineral resources.
It is these courageous efforts of the youth that must spur our generation to action to claim our rightful place as leaders. We must do so emboldened by the fact that all social ills affect youth the most, be it HIV/Aids, unemployment, child pregnancy, poor education, etc. Young people must lead the charge to deal with all social ills.
Veterans of the struggle have done their part in the fight against apartheid. Our role as a younger generation must be to achieve our generational mission to achieve economic freedom in our life time.
We should be ashamed that veterans of the struggle had to emerge from the comfort of taking care of their grandchildren to condemn issues such as state capture, the disregard of the constitution by a sitting president and unjustified insults on Chapter 9 institutions while the youth watched in silence.
Veterans of the movement are forced into active politics due to our complete silence as the youth of this country. While the veterans’ counsel should be welcomed from time to time, the youth Young people have led the charge for change in society in a number of ways over the years. The youth are the majority in South Africa and should not abdicate responsibility as custodians of the future, says the writer. should not abdicate its responsibility as custodians of the future.
We must not allow any individual to destroy everything the ANC stood for under our watch. The national executive committee (NEC) of the ANC must not be allowed to buy time in taking accountability for all the sins that are affecting our country by invoking a predetermined consultation process.
The NEC is the highest decisionmaking body between congresses and has authority to take decisions on a wide range of issues. There was no consultation before the NEC took the decision to recall president Thabo Mbeki.
The NEC invoked consultation after the Constitutional Court ruling on Nkandla to clothe the entire ANC membership with the whole Nkandla saga and by association we all became responsible for undermining the constitution.
The call for introspection and consultation with structures on the outcomes of local government elections smacks of the same ploy. An early congress will elect the current dominant faction in the ANC and thus not solve anything.
The challenges of the ANC are known to the NEC, and the NEC should have just acknowledged that the sins of the president affected us in the local government elections. It is mind-boggling how the whole organisation can take responsibility for the security upgrades at the president’s private residence and his alleged capture by the Guptas. The people responsible for the mess the organisation finds itself in cannot be expected to lead us to self-correction. How can a rotten head lead the renewal of the organisation?
The Mandela generation achieved their mission because they were prepared to sacrifice personal growth and developments for the broader benefit of the whole nation.
In short, our biggest weakness as a country is our fear to speak truth to power. The youth of today must be prepared to forsake personal benefit if it is to contribute to the renewal of our country the same way freedom fighters did.
We must not allow patronage to imprison us. Young people must stand up and save the country from permanent decay that will be irreversible.
The old would never voluntarily hand over the baton to a new generation; the young must fight for their space; hold the bull by its horns and reclaim the ANC.
“How can a rotten head lead the renewal of the party?