South African Youth Need Direction

South African youth, the ‘leaders’ of tomorrow, are usually spoken about with little enthusiasm.  South African youth are seen as a group who would happily take yet are not to be seen when it is time to give back.  They have a sense of entitlement, and as mentioned in the previous post, they are not willing to work for what they want.  Given this one would not be blamed to believe that the youth of today are a lost generation.   Despite the doom and gloom, there are bright stars in a mostly dark sky. 

The Mail & Guardian has just published its annual “200 Young South Africans” supplement, which profiles 200 young citizens, 35 and younger, who have made a difference and impact in their various fields.  These are the leaders of tomorrow who have, notwithstanding their age, decided to lead today.  Mediocrity in many instances is the order of the day amongst young South Africans but these 200 youth leaders have chosen to stray from the pack and excel. 

It is freighting when young South Africans find inspiration in people who glorify crass materialism and in people who carry with them enough arrogance to fill a soccer stadium.   These are the people who young South Africans call “role models”-- it is no wonder that young South Africans are seen as a lost generation.   The 200 Young South Africans have managed to show that humble servants still exist, and that young South African have real role models to look up to.   

Society has never flourished whilst being led by arrogant and stubborn people, but the success of a nation can be found when it is carried by humble servants, who have chosen to lead in the absence of real leadership and who have chosen to quietly excel despite accepted mediocrity.   

Despite the excitement surrounding the Mail &Guardian’s supplement, which is a commendable initiative, very few will remember the names of the 200 Young South Africans and next week the same uninspiring leaders will be on the lips and minds of all young people, and these uninspiring leaders will be seen as the representatives of all young people.  The youth need to stop short changing themselves and begin to draw inspiration from the 200 Young South Africans. 

The youth cannot be led astray by those who go in blindly.  The youth need to ask themselves if the populist leaders of today are who they want to be the leaders of tomorrow.  The reality is that the many populist leaders capture their audience with their charisma, which is not sustainable.  What South Africa needs is leaders with character and the 200 Young South Africans embody what a leader with character is.  Character is what wins a marathon, charisma is what wins a sprint and the road ahead is long. 


During a conversation one of the 200 Young South Africans said "I want to change this country".  These are the people we want, these are the people who aspire for things greater than that which will change their immediate environment or bank balance.  They care for the greater good, in the long term.  They have a plan, and they know how that plan will be executed.

The lost generation must find direction, and that direction will be found when they decide to be led by the best.

We Need To Unite As Africans

During the dark days of Apartheid many South Africans were not able to freely express their political views and were subsequently forced to seek refuge in neighbouring African countries.  Knowing that the political climate in South Africa was not in line with basic human rights, our brothers and sisters to the north of the Limpopo accommodated us for years on end.  Political refugees were able to establish political structures in other African countries, and some even established families.

Now that South Africa is politically stable and the ‘gem of Africa’ (a situation which our neighbours in Africa indirectly contributed to) we are quick to forget that we were once in trouble and needed the help of our brothers and sisters north of the Limpopo.  The tables have turned and our fellow Africans now seek a better life here.  Instead of reciprocating the Ubuntu which they showed us, we replicate the pain and suffering which the evaded back in their troubled lands.

Before 2008 the word “xenophobia” was a word which was found only in dictionaries.  Today xenophobia is not only a dirty word, but has become an act, which black South Africans use to chase makwerekwere (derogatory term for foreigner)  back across the border.   The people, who during the dark days were brothers and sisters, have now been reduced to second class citizens, who are said to “steal our jobs”. 

Former South African President Nelson Mandela emphatically stated “Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another.”  The very South Africans who were oppressed under the Apartheid Government have become the oppressors— oppressing fellow Africans.  It boggles the mind that Africans would turn on one another, especially given the history of oppression on the continent.

Regardless of the circumstances in South Africa there is no way to justify the heinous acts of xenophobia; it even goes against the fundamental teachings of African community.  African culture speaks about caring and sharing, and accommodating those who need help, especially when their circumstances are dire.  This is not evident as Africans from across the continent face the danger of  brutal beatings as they walk the streets, the streets of another African land.

Xenophobic acts are at the core of the South African psyche, which has manifested from an ‘unafrican’ way of thinking which says “we as South Africans are better than the rest of Africa”.  We as South Africans were allowed to take from fellow Africans, now when it comes to giving back we respond with barbaric acts.

How many more fellow Africans will have to be assaulted and killed before the situation receives the attention it deserves?   

As Africans, we face the same struggles, and the struggles will only be overcome when we realise that we should not be fighting one another.  The common enemy is poverty and we can only conquer through unity as Africans.

Rest In Peace Mama Sisulu 1918-2011

The Transkei region has become an iconic space in the South African landscape because of the many liberation leaders that were born in that area. Both Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu were born not far from Camama, the village in which Nontsikelelo Thethiwe was born. It was only when Nontsikelelo started school at a local mission post that she, like Mandela, acquired the European name, Albertina.

In September 1918 the Spanish Flu, a particular strain of the influenza virus that had killed 40 million people worldwide, reached South Africa. The results were as devastating as elsewhere in the world. The conservative estimate is that the epidemic killed a quarter of a million people in South Africa, and the Transkei was no exception as more than 30 000 people died out of a population of 1 million.

Monica Thethiwe (nee: Mnyila), caught the virus and was seriously ill whilst pregnant with her first daughter and her second born, Albertina. Elinor Sisulu, daughter-in-law and biographer of Walter and Albertina Sisulu, records that “Umbathalala, as the flu was called in Xhosa, was particularly lethal to pregnant women and small babies” and the Mnyila and Thethiwe families feared that Albertina would be infected in utero. Despite this when Albertina was born to Bonilizwe and Monica Thethiwe on the 21 October 1918 she was in perfect health bringing great joy to her parents and grandmother.

Even after Albertina’s mother survived the flu she was constantly ill and physically weak. Given his wife’s condition, Albertina’s father decided that his family should stay at the Mnyila family household in Xolobe while he was away working on the mines. Albertina started school in a local primary school in Xolobe that was run by Presbyterian missionaries and it is here that she had to choose a Christian name from a list presented to her by the missionaries. Nontsikelelo chose the name Albertina, her family continue to call her Ntsiki, but she was known as Albertina at school and later the name Albertina Sisulu would become synonymous with the Freedom Struggle in South Africa.

Within her extended family Albertina was the eldest of eight girls and it was her responsibility to take care of the younger girls. Even from a young age Albertina showed strong maternal instincts, and this continued throughout her life. Her leadership qualities and maternal instincts underlined the respect she earned during the struggle when she was referred to as the ‘Mother of the Nation’. Albertina excelled at school in cultural and sporting activities and she showed leadership skills at an early age when she was chosen as head girl in standard five. However, Albertina was forced to leave school on several occasions to take care of her younger siblings (because of her mother’s bad health) and this resulted in Albertina being two years older than the rest of her class in her last year of primary school. Although at the time this did not seem a major inconvenience, later when Albertina entered a competition to win a four year high school scholarship this counted against her as she was disqualified from the prize even though she had come in first place. Angered by the unfair treatment (the competition rules had set no age limit on the prize) Albertina’s teachers wrote to the local Xhosa language newspaper, Imvo Zabantsundu, making a strong case for Albertina to be given the prize. Fortunately for Albertina the article caught the attention of the priests at the local Roman Catholic Mission who then communicated with Father Bernard Huss at Mariazell. Father Huss arranged for a four year high school scholarship for Albertina at Mariazell College. The Mnyila family was very happy and celebrated Albertina's achievement with the entire village, Albertina recalls that the celebration saying “you would have thought it was a wedding”.

In 1936 Albertina left for Mariazell College in Matatiele in the Eastern Cape and although very nervous she was excited to find that a local girl from Xolobe was a prefect at Mariazell. The school's routine was rigid and strict, pupils were woken up at 4am to bath and clean their dormitories, they would then proceed to the chapel for morning prayers. Although Albertina’s scholarship covered her board and lodging, she had to pay it back during the school holidays by ploughing the fields and working in the laundry room. Albertina only went home during the December holidays but she found this a small price to pay for the opportunity to attend high school.

With high school ending in 1939 Albertina had to decide what she would do after school. She decided that she would not marry but rather become a working professional so that she could support her family back in Xolobe. Whilst at Mariazell Albertina had converted to Catholicism and because she had resolved never to marry she decided that she would become a nun as she admired the dedication of the nuns who taught at the college. However, Father Huss advised Albertina against this as nuns did not earn a salary nor did they leave the mission post, so she would not have been able to support her family in the way she wanted to. Instead he advised her to consider nursing, as trainee nurses were paid to study. Attracted by the practical solution nursing offered Albertina took his advice and applied to various nursing schools. She was accepted as a trainee nurse at a Johannesburg “Non-European” hospital called Johannesburg General. After spending Christmas with her family in Xolobe she left for Johannesburg in January 1940.

Source:  http://www.sahistory.org.za/node/9070

It's Time To Build On The Foundations of 1976

On June 16, 1976 a day that began like any other, in Apartheid South Africa, a group of approximately 20 000 young South Africans, took to the streets of Soweto with the intention of peacefully protesting against being taught in Afrikaans- a language forced upon them.  Before the group of defiant youth could reach their destination, the Orlando Stadium, they were intercepted by a heavily armed police force.   Despite this the crowd remained peaceful, not so much as lifting a stone. All they did was to continue singing and waving their placards.  Even though the police force was not presented with an imminent threat they began to shower the group of youth with tear gas canisters, in an attempt to disperse the peaceful crowd.  It was at this point that the formerly calm situation escalated into frenzy, as the first, of many, gun shots was fired, and the group of youth turned their backs and ran in defence- the gunshots continued.

The class of 1976 fought for the South Africa we live in today, with many not being able to enjoy the spoils of their labour.   These are the youth-- young people who had the courage to fight for what is right in the face of danger-- that make one proud to be a young South African today. In view of this one has to look at the youth of today and ponder “what are the youth of today fighting for?”

 Some may ask, in a democratic South Africa why would the youth have to fight for anything when the fighting has been already done?  That is a valid question, and given the bloodshed that happened in 1976 we can all agree that enough fighting has been done.  Let us look at this from a different angle:  the class of 1976 laid the foundation, the most important component of any structure, and the youth of today have yet to build upon that solid foundation. 

The youth of today do not want to get their hands dirty; they expect that solutions will fall from heaven like manna.  The class of 1976 found it in themselves to go for what they wanted and never expected for their situations to solve through the sweat and toil of others, they felt that “if not me then who?” they got down on their knees and laid a foundation for the youth of today to build upon and the youth of today have yet to utilise that foundation to build upon.  The youth of today are happy to bask in the victories of others. 

We have witnessed the influence and power of the youth in the Middle-East who have realised that the change that they want will only be realised if they find it in themselves to labour for it.  The youth in the Middle-East, like the class of 1976 had no foundation on which to build, so they went and built it for themselves. 

There are certain youth politicians who assume to be continuing the work of the class of 1976, yet in reality seem to have an agenda of their own, which is contrary to the foundations laid by the heros of 1976.  What the youth must realise is that these politicians are not the custodians of all solutions, those with solutions go against the status quo and develop a positive way in which to solve problems, without the influence of others.  The problems that the youth face are numerous and will only be solved when they find it in themselves and stop depending on others.

A recent survey by the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) found that 68% of youth see themselves having a better career in South Africa than anywhere else in the world, as encouraging as this may be, many do not realise that hard-work is needed in order to realise that future.  This is because many youth think that 1994 everyone was given a licence to relax and take up a laissez-faire attitude.

The youth need to draw inspiration from the youth of 1976, and realise that they did most of the work and all that needs to be done now is to build on the work they did.  The youth of today need to actively work for the kind of South Africa they want to live in, the kind of South Africa that they will raise their kids in.

The foundation has been laid by the youth of 1976, now your job as the youth of today is to build upon that foundation. If you do not, who will?