Reviving dream of rainbow nation
It has been slowly fading away and authorities need to address challenges students face as education was pivotal in the dismantling of apartheid, writes Zimasa Matiwane
FORTY ONE years ago, young people took to the streets of Soweto to protest against Afrikaans as a medium of instruction in schools.
An estimated 20 000 took part in the demonstrations that began on the morning of June 16, 1976. By nightfall dozens were dead; shot by police, their deaths never properly recorded.
That day, which saw young pupils take charge in a fight that was central to their education, is recognised by many as the flint that sparked the decline of apartheid.
The dawn of democracy came with the dream of a rainbow nation, but it has slowly been withering away.
Numerous movements, like #AfrikaansMustFall, #FeesMustFall, #RhodesMustFall have been born as young people have again risen to take on the fundamental problems with the country’s education system.
Three student leaders from KwaZulu-Natal say there are several challenges facing young South Africans and that change can no longer be deferred.
Noxolo Bhengu, 23, a fifthyear medicine student and Student Representative Council (SRC) president at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, said funding and lack of opportunities remained the biggest challenge the youth faced.
“Students are not adequately funded. We struggle to pay fees, pay for residence or even afford a meal. Our alumni further their studies because they can’t find jobs. We encourage students to further their studies but would like them to be employed, be job creators and contribute meaningfully to society,” Bhengu explained.
Her sentiments were shared by Vezi Simelane, 24, a third-year environmental health student and SRC president at Mangosuthu University of Technology.
He said young people needed to be at the forefront of their struggle. He said the generation of (Nelson) Mandela had fought its struggle, that the youth of today needed to fight their own, starting with decommodifying education.
“Reality is if you can’t buy education, it’s difficult to access it. Without education, emancipation for this generation is going to be difficult. Free quality education remains elusive,” Simelane said.
Other challenges that affect young people trying to further their education include housing.
This week, Checkpoint, an eNCA programme, reported that student accommodation shortages stood at 216 000 beds.
Some students slept at garages and under bridges while some prostituted themselves for food and a place to live.
The housing shortage makes students more vulnerable to attacks and universities have come under fire for failing to deal with incidents of campus rape and sexual violence.
University of Zululand student leader Mayenzeke Chiya, 23, who is doing his Master’s degree in law, said poverty and inadequate funding made students vulnerable to unwanted pregnancies and disease.
“Young students fall prey to sugar daddies. Some are subjected to sexual violence by older men who provide them with money. These struggles are interlinked,” he said.
Bhengu criticised institutions for “turning a blind eye” and “pretending” the violence wasn’t happening.
She said there was a lack of pro-activeness in dealing with the matter.
“It needs to start with ibeefing up security on campus, which is something that we have always complained about as the SRC,” she said. Simelane said making universities safe spaces should be a priority for all institutions.
“Each university should have a space dedicated to receiving complainants, a centre where students can feel safe and are offered free counselling,” Simelane said.
The student leaders called on society to unite for solutions, saying students could not do it alone.
“If society at large had united in the struggle for free higher education, I have no doubt that it would have made more impact. It’s the sort of struggles over which we need to come together as society,” Bhengu said.
“The private sector needs to say how much it is contributing to youth empowerment and emancipating the youth from poverty. What it is doing instead is gaining and making profits from resources that are supposed to be shared by the whole country , but benefiting a minority or individuals,” Simelane added.
But one KZN youth leader who is making a name for himself as a social entrepreneur has shown what is possible when educational dreams are realised.
KwaMashu-born Wandile Mthiyane, who won a scholarship to study at Andrews University in the US, is doing his Master’s degree but has founded a project to build a home for the family of an unemployed disabled couple in Umbumbulu.
The Ubuntu Design Group project, which is seeking to reignite the spirit of Ubuntu (I am because you are), has won several international awards.
He said the youth needed to learn from the courage of those who fought apartheid to create a South Africa that’s better for all.
“We have been privileged to be able to go to school. We need to help other young people who have not been able to get that opportunity, the few of us must work together.”
Mthiyane said he was not just building a house, but a community by equipping the youth of the area with skills. He said the project had also become a vehicle for breaking stereotypes and building a bigger community.
“Students from privileged backgrounds say the project has made them realise that we are more alike than we are different; it’s so much bigger than I thought.
“It gives me hope for a better South Africa for our generation, if we continue to work in the sense of ubuntu and helping others. We will make progress,” Mthiyane said.
He said there was a lot of potential in the youth that needed to be unleashed and trusted that the current generation was up to the task.