MY GENERATION WASN’T A WHOLE LOT BETTER THAN TODAY’S YOUTH

“I lost an arm … I am an incurable optimist.” These are the words uttered by retired Constitutional Court Justice Albie Sachs, in a live session about social justice.

Owing to a single television set in our household, we had to choose what to watch on Friday. The AKA memorial service was my kin’s preferred option.

There I was, with my red pen, ready to point out vulgar language and the lack of respect for sacred events when the voice of my conscience said: “Before you do any shaming, remember that you are of the East vs West era feud generation.”

I understood the youth in that service very well, for mine is a generation that looked to the West. We hero-worshipped Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. and recited lyrics that degraded women. Rolling from our tongues was the desire to kill the mother#$% who, incidentally, were our peers.

Before we condemn this generation, think about what yours was doing that was considered by its predecessors to be immoral.

Unlike Justice Sachs, I have not yet lost an arm and a portion of my sight. I am, however, a chronic optimist and believe that nothing good or bad is permanent.

These boys who are hired to shoot and kill are a product of the generation that were teenagers and young adults of the ’90s. Like a wave, as they came, they will also go.

This violence will fertilise the seeds that will force the coming generation to build a better people than we are.

But that will not happen in thin air. Pick up a piece of paper for the sake of the environment; buy a pen or a book for an underprivileged child. Do your part and build your country. Unathi Dulwana