Youth have lost spirit of 1976

THIS year marks 39 years since the pupils of Soweto stood up and confronted the National Party government, on June 16 1976. This year also marks 22 years of freedom from that oppressive regime.

The pupils were infuriated by the government’s attempt to enforce the use of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction in black schools. The uprising dramatically changed South Africa’s political atmosphere as they also put the government off balance forever.

Haroon Aziz describes that period with these words, in his book, A Life of Social Justice: “New dangers arose and, in proportion, new courage, human spirit and willingness to make greater sacrifices arose to transcend the grief that had gripped the land and its mind.”

The youth of that era were in a league of its own, a youth inspired by moral conscience. They were motivated to fight for the good of all.

The society from which they came was rooted in strong African values that imbibe the care for others and the desire to strive to do good at all times. Everyone was woven into a single culture and a common identity, even in the face of desperate attempts by the government to divide people.

In 1976, B J Vorster was prime minister, a strong and an effective leader of the apartheid state. He governed every aspect of our human lives with a myriad draconian laws.

He believed that South Africa’s territorial integrity and its sovereignty were permanently unassailable (just short of saying the party was “going to govern until Jesus Christ returns”). His ministers could brag about rolling their SADF troops from Cape to Cairo with no hindrance.

Steve Bantu Biko and many other prominent anti-apartheid activists died at the hands of Vorster’s security branch police, most of them in detention.

The ANC was the major benefactor of the youth uprising following the temporary crushing of the open revolt by the government. Most of those who fled the country swelled the ANC ranks.

The key weakness of the youth uprising was its lack of strategies and tactics in engaging the might of the apartheid state, hence the necessary guidance was to be found in the ANC. Other pupils joined the PAC and other organisations.

As a result of the uprising, the ANC was accorded the official observer status and that of a legitimate representative of the South African people at the United Nations in late 1976.

The youth who led the uprising were driven by strong moral, political and patriotic convictions. They knew of no immediate benefits flowing from their confrontation with that mighty regime.

The youth at that time were predominantly influenced by the black consciousness political philosophy. Their conviction was driven by principles of justice.

They were aware of the ultimate price to be paid for their beliefs and they were not shaken. Their cause was inspired by the desire to serve, suffer and sacrifice for their motherland.

Those youth leaders, though some of them ended up in prison, others in exiles or dead at the hands of the many different branches of the South African security forces, were not oblivious to the dangers they were facing. The love of their country made them defy all forms of prosecution.

Today’s youth, though enjoying freedom in a democratic state, seem not to be far better off than the 1976 generation, in those gloomy and dark days of apartheid, when it comes to their challenges. Today’s youth are unemployed, fighting to be educated and facing deadly diseases such as HIV/Aids.

At a social level they face the destructive scourge of drug and alcohol abuse. The youth of today, though free, find their situation confusing.

While today’s youth are grappling with tangible material difficulties, they are also being mesmerised by a cultural and identity crisis, in a society that has completely lost its moral compass. Today’s youth are content with a nation that has no coherent culture and identity that is promoted by the society and the government.

This lack of identity and culture is the root cause of the growing tension in our society, particularly in the youth. The common culture and identity were the main glue that kept our society united in the face of the most brutal regime.

Social cohesion was easy, because we had a leadership who had a clear vision for our country. The culture of ubuntu does not exist in today’s youth as they operate with the adage, “everyone for himself and God for us all”.

That’s un-African.

In 1995, then Chinese president Lee Ten-hui said of the impact of culture in a country’s development: “It is my firm belief that our culture is the most important factor that has allowed the Republic of China to achieve successful political reform in the past five years”.

Prof Barney Pityana, one of the leading lights in the struggle, in his essay, The Renewal of African Moral Values, writes about the African values that drove the moral uprightness of those who fought for freedom and social justice in this land: “Perhaps the most abiding principle of value in African thought and system of morality is ubuntu. Ubuntu is reference to human solidarity.”

It cannot be argued that today’s youth are striving for those values today. They are driven by quick crass materialism, that comes at whatever cost.

The desire of serving their society is not top priority, it is bling and conspicuous consumption. With this kind of mindset, that is the survival of the fittest, our youth might find themselves losing all the gains that were so hard fought for.

Maybe to make sense of our situation and to seek ways of moving back to basics, we need to heed Pityana when he writes: “Human beings are by nature moral creatures. That means that we never live our lives in isolation.

“We are part of a community of people who are imbued with a character that makes us mutually interdependent.

“Because we are part of a community, we are bound to live by certain rules and norms which make our lives together fulfilling. Without norms and rules, and if everybody did exactly as they pleased, the fabric of society would collapse.”