By Nonsikelelo Ncube
Youth Month has just ended and given the dire state of youth affairs in South Africa, Charlotte Maxeke and the youth who died on June 16, 1976, must all be turning in their graves.
One could say the government has dismally failed to preserve the legacy of those June 16 heroes.
Ironically, the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities launched the 2021 Youth Month (June) under the banner: “The Year of Charlotte Mannya Maxeke: Growing Youth Employment for an Inclusive and Transformed Society”.
Yet, the youth are constantly locked out from accessing opportunities.
The recent ministerial cook-off scandal hosted by the Department of Tourism, was one bitter pill for the youth to swallow. The event was promoted as a means to boost the local tourism industry yet instead of engaging a young chef, the cook-off involved Somizi, an established media personality.
The event made it seem that only the politically connected have access to entrepreneurial opportunities – and that should not be the case. All youth should have the opportunity to advance economically without prejudice and regardless of their social status, political or any other affiliations.
The rampant corruption in the country is eating away at the future of the youth. This is not what Charlotte Maxeke and so many other Struggle icons envisioned for a democratic South Africa.
Back in 1976, the youth of the Soweto uprising recognised the importance of a quality education system as a means of safeguarding a brighter future. But the current deplorable state of schools around the country, in what is meant to be a democracy, speaks to how the government has failed to preserve the legacy of the youth of the previous generation – those who died fighting for quality education.
The Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, which is the main teaching hospital for the University of the Witwatersrand’s Faculty of Health Sciences, now lies unutilised due to a fire that destroyed parts of it.
As the biggest academic hospital in South Africa, this was a hub for trainee medical students. There is no definite date as to when it will reopen.
The Gauteng provincial government needs to reopen the hospital to not only ease the burden of the Covid19 third wave, but to also accommodate young medical professionals negatively impacted by its closure.
Today, nearly half the youth in the country find themselves with no income-earning opportunities, according to Statistics SA data. The statistics released on June 1 show that the youth unemployment rate for the first quarter of 2021 was 46.3%. South African society is plagued with various social ills, including crime. The latest quarterly crime statistics show an 8.5% decline in contact crimes, however, murder increased by 8.4%.
While there is no excuse for crime, the correlation between crime and unemployment is undeniable. The government needs to actively work in severing the link between unemployment and crime by availing more opportunities for young people.
Youth Month may be over but the issues young people face are constant and we need to act on them.
Those in power need to implement measures that will provide effective and sustainable solutions to address the daily reality of high youth unemployment. Fancy slogans without any real action will no longer suffice.
*Nonsikelelo Ncube is an Executive Assistant at the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation.
**The views expressed here are not necessarily those of The Star or IOL.
The Star