Recalling past can define the future
South African youth show a distressing indifference to history and the heroic exploits that destroyed apartheid
IN THE historical context, June 16 proved to be a watershed in the demise of the apartheid regime because it served as a catalyst that drew unprecedented numbers of young people into the national liberation struggle. It is sad though, that our liberation stories, including Youth Day, are fast becoming silent, despite memorials and events designed to keep them alive.
The widespread veneration of this historic day, which reverberated about the whole world, has waned, and this is attributed to the “short memory syndrome” or self-induced historical amnesia the majority South Africans suffer from. In short, there is a general apathy or ignorance of the youth in respect of remembrance of June 16 and other critical days of the struggle for liberation.
In June 2001, Dr Essop Pahad, minister in the president’s office, poignantly captured this apathy when he remarked that “it was painful to realise how little South African youth knew of the struggles that had been fought to buy their freedom as the present generation need to be constantly reminded of those who fought in the struggle to make the vision of a non-racial South Africa a reality”.
Struggle leaders also bemoan the fact that in order to attract apathetic youth to their own Youth Day celebrations, entertainment by musical performers and celebrities has to be included in the programme.
A few years ago, the ignorance of our youth was laid bare by the Big Brother programme, in which the youth from other African countries demonstrated amazing knowledge of the history of South Africa, more than their South African counterparts.
The problem with the Irish, once observed Oscar Wilde, is that they remember too much history. The problem with the English, he went on, is that they forget too much. I argue that the problem with South Africans is they just don’t care.
David Lowenthal in his celebrated article “The Past of the Future” probably best captures the apathy of South Africans towards their history when he argues that in recent years there has been a retreat from engagement with many aspects of the past. He suggests this points to an unwillingness to contend with the future.
He concludes that the past remains integral to us, both individually and collectively, assimilated in ourselves, and resurrected into an everchanging present.
Equally informative, TC Chang and Shirlena Huang, in their article “Recreating place, replacing memory: Creative destruction at the Singapore River” say that how societies, communities and nations perceive their past often shows how they manage the present and welcome the future.
If one looks at the historical consciousness of South Africa, one notices that the concept of “forgetting to remember” is fast becoming a pervasive element in our country’s psyche. “Remembering to forget” is equally, if not more, an insidious symptom of South Africa’s historical amnesia.
Lowenthal points out that the phenomena of historical remembering and forgetting are not innocent acts but strategic undertakings that streamline the past in ways that are coherent to the present and profitable for the future. He further argues that memory is a “great organiser of consciousness”, selectively eliminating undesirable aspects from the past, highlighting favoured events and rendering history “tidy and suitable”.
I strongly believe that liberation stories and our past in general can be kept alive by coming up with myriad interventions.
First of all, each and every community should establish its heritage forum where local heritage could be discussed and passed on to the young ones. Schools should encourage the recording of oral history by assigning pupils to, among other things, interview veterans of the liberation struggle, interview and record the experiences of local eminent people whose contributions in whatever form left a lasting legacy for their respective communities.
Excursions
Schools should be encouraged to go on excursions to visit sites of historical significance like the Hector Pietersen Memorial in Soweto, and our world-renowned heritage sites.
Veterans of the liberation struggle could also be invited by schools to participate in symposiums aimed at instilling the passion for one’s history.
Families should be encouraged to visit museums and monuments. It’s time pride and patriotism were rekindled by encouraging South Africans to start appreciating and valuing the rich history and heritage this country is endowed with.
In line with the transformation of our heritage resources which, unfortunately, still lag behind in highlighting the success stories of those previously marginalised, a sizeable number of streets now bear the names of our struggle heroes and heroines.
Indeed the installation of the statues, monuments and memorials serve as a poignant reminder that our freedom did not come cheap.
That said, the heroes and heroines of 1976 may be forgotten, as are a legion of others who so courageously fought the apartheid regime, but their spirits live on.
The indifference of the youth towards their history is attributed to the challenges faced. Chief among them is unemployment. The persistently high levels of youth unemployment is one of the most pressing socio-economic problems South Africa is faced with.
To compound matters, research indicates that in some cases unemployment is caused by the youth’s lack “soft skills” such as communication and personal presentation. Also emotional maturity.
Youths do not have sufficient networks to obtain information on job opportunities, as well as financial resources offered by government. Many companies have difficulty finding suitable candidates for positions that become vacant. This is because of the existence of a critical skills mismatch. There is an urgent need to revisit, if not overhaul, our school curricula, which still have the vestiges of Hendrik Verwoed’s evil purpose regarding the limitation of the black academic curriculum to basic literacy and numeracy because Africans were meant to be “hewers of wood and drawers of water” only.
The British Council’s 2014 Going Global research paper “Can higher education solve Africa’s jobs crisis?” claims that employers are dissatisfied with the skills and qualities of graduates. The paper points out that there is widespread concern about their work readiness. While employers are generally satisfied with the knowledge of students, they perceive significant gaps in their IT skills, personal qualities (such as reliability) and transferable skills (team working and problem solving).
The British Council’s conclusion reads: “Africa stands at a crossroads in relation to higher education development. If countries can effectively invest in enabling access for the increasing numbers of ambitious school leavers, while at the same time ensuring quality provision and successful transition to the workplace, then the continent will reap substantial benefits from the youth bulge.
South Africa’s struggle to regain economic sovereignty is still a long way off success – hence the youth’s slogan – radical economic transformation in their time.
The government however should be commended for establishing the National Youth Development Agency that lobbies and advocates for integration and mainstreaming of youth development in all spheres of government, the private sector and civil society.
There is also the Youth Employment Accord which addresses the challenges of youth employment and total employment as part of the decent work agenda.
There is the National Youth Service whose role is to, among other things, develop the abilities of young people through service and learning. The government is really trying to address these challenges.
For example, the Office of the Premier of KwaZuluNatal, has established a fullyfledged Youth Chief Directorate, which offers bursaries to needy and deserving youth. Government departments have internship programmes that are aimed at equipping the youth with both skills and experience in the workplace. In short, there are a number of government programmes meant for the youth. The only problem is that they are not communicated well so that even youth in the far-flung rural areas can access these programmes.
Indeed, the government is its own worst enemy for not having an effective communication strategy to communicate the myriad of youth programmes it offers.
Shongwe works in the office of the premier. The article is written in his personal capacity.