Stand up for our future

THE MOOD in our country is sombre. We welcomed a new decade with more of the same hangovers of 2019. Hangovers that will define the decade if action is not taken by those who claim to represent us all in the government.

We have been resilient, we, as young people, have been patient, but we have learnt from our African and Middle Eastern neighbours, that patience can last only so long.

We can’t put food on the table or keep the lights on; let alone find decent shelter and dignified work. We can’t educate future generations. We struggle to get hospital management to deliver, and we fail to focus our attention on primary health care.

Our people are dying, our children are sick, our youth are unable to access tertiary education and, if they do, they are not adequately accommodated nor are they able to find work after completing their studies.

In conversation with a generational mix of individuals, the concerns, fears and painful realities are what our countries’ leaders must address before it is too late. There’s no silver bullet to fix it all, but there are opportunities to tackle our issues head-on.

The daily plight and everharsher realities we face are becoming more desperate. If we are not to tackle inequality, we could be in for the worst in our third decade since the dawn of our democracy.

Crime is becoming more violent. The expression of frustrations by all our people are not exclusive to scenes of looting protests through the streets of decaying municipalities and cities, but to our elected representatives who are toppling councils.

It is scary and it is dreadful. And it is all our responsibility. Those in the government have an oath of office to obey, but as citizens and young people, who make up most of the population and who find themselves unemployed and not in education, training or seeking work, we must rise to the occasion too. We all must act.

We see the likes of a girl sailing to the Americas from Greenland to make a bold statement to world leaders on climate change. South Africa has a Greta Thunberg too. Our young people rise up and say “enough is enough”.

If we are to honour those who sacrificed their lives for us, we must play our part for the betterment of all our people.

I fear that our institutions, which were designed to protect, defend and promote our Constitution and democratic values, are eroding.

If no one is locked up and no justice comes out of the state capture commission, the office of the public protector might as well close shop. I plead with our leaders to think carefully about the ramifications of their inaction.

We can address the apartheid legacy that has left millions of us behind the economic curve.

And we can address economic injustice by expediting land reform with reasonable compensation.

It is time for us to listen to the leaders we are fortunate to occupy spaces with, and listen to their wisdom.

Leaders such as elder statesman and one of the original freedom fighters, sans beret, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi.

We, young people, must act in concert with those who came before us, and seek advice from those who know what it takes to change a regime.

What we do in this decade will define who we are.

Now is the time to address what we want our future to look like, three decades on since the dawn of our democracy – after all; good things do come after three waves.

Think about it.

Yaseen Carelse is a political

media specialist.