‘I am tempted to issue my school-leavers with a “to do” list’

THE Grade 12 drama pupils were asked to produce a piece of Struggle theatre. The challenge to each group was to do something on an issue that “makes you angry”. Their teacher chose two pieces from the class that she felt the whole school should see and we were treated to these performances on Monday in assembly. The one piece that spoke to me of today’s youth and their critique of our country was titled: So little done, so much to do.

When viewing our young democracy, different views would contest the statement that so little has been done. However here we have one view, the so-called “born frees” who are looking at South Africa and saying to government, civic leaders and adults, why have you done so little in this time? The same assembly started with me telling the school that half of the children who start school in Grade R don’t ever get to matric. I was at the SA Principal’s Association provincial conference at the weekend and both Nic Spaull and Jonathan Jansen reminded us that this translates into 500 000 drop-outs a year.

These are young South Africans who in terms of education have not had enough done for them and are angry. They need training and jobs; they need hope for their future. This is one area where so little has been done in the face of a massive need.

Fortunately the second part of this play was about “so much to do”. This gives me hope as it tells me that these 2016 school-leavers see that they have a big job ahead in our country. They will be the lucky ones who have a matric and have choices, but there is also the responsibility of so much to do. I am tempted to issue my school-leavers with a “to do” list of things that urgently need attention in the next 10 years.

However, I am sure that this will not be necessary as they are already aware of our national challenges.

It would be convenient to now sit back and allow the young and idealistic to do the hard work that is needed to ensure that every South African has a future in our country. I read in this paper that at the weekend one of the speakers at the Franschhoek Literary Festival was telling the audience to stop helping the poor. I would say this is disingenuous; rather we need to get every person who has resources in South Africa to help the poor.

Sitting at a university, one has the time and resources to analyse every situation in detail and pontificate about what was in the heart and mind of each person when they performed an act of generosity, care or charity. On the ground, however, the recipients of these acts don’t enjoy this luxury of in-depth analysis and are merely grateful for the opportunity that has been afforded them through someone else caring in some way. So don’t be discouraged if you are doing something small somewhere to make a difference – every bit does count and every person helped in some way contributes to the greater good.

“So little done, so much to do”, let’s all get stuck in and do our bit. David de Korte

It would be convenient to sit back and allow the young and idealistic to do the hard work