But, today, almost 41 years later, young people in the townships still don’t understand why they must leave their homes to come to the cities for them to get an education and to look for employment. Minenhle Maththews (above) who has been forced to relocate from Kathorus to Johannesburg to be closer to his school, told Kathorus MAIL that he would like to see more young people of his age finding jobs and creating employment for themselves in their own areas.
“There are lots of opportunities around – opportunities to make something of myself to become a better person,” said Minenhle, who is currently studying transport logistics at UJ. He claims that there are a lot of things that can be done to improve the economy in the transport department. The 21-year-old said he is frustrated by the drugs and crime that dominates the lives of young people in the townships and said he wishes there were more solutions than problems to turn the lives of the youth around.
“I would like to see the youth working together towards fixing the problems in our country.” he said.
“I want to do better than what I’ve been given – I want to do ten times better than my parents,” said Maqeda. The 20-year-old student stated that he feels today’s youth is still engaged in battle, even though, for a different reason. According to Maqeda, every generation has its own battle to fight, just as the youth of 1976 fought their war against inferior education. Looking back, Maqeda said the only thing today’s youth gained out of that battle was nothing but “freedom” and “empty promises”.
“How can I say I am free when my parents still must pay for a bond they cannot afford?” he said, as he lashed at the RDP housing concept. He said he feels aggrieved by the vast living standard discrepancies between the “haves” and the “have-nots” in many communities in the townships. Although he recently moved to Kempton Park, Maqeda, said he will never remove himself from the poverty that surrounds his people.
His suggestions to combat what he believes is the lack of career opportunities for young people is for the government to stop focusing only on the academic side of education. He claimed to know many young people back in his rural village who matriculated but could not further their studies due to financial constraints.
“His parents could not afford to pay for his tuition fees and he also could not get a bursary because his pass marks were not that good,” said Maqeda. According to him, the government should start focusing on the arts, music and sports as much as it focuses on the academic side of education. And he would like to see education authorities being as much theoretical as they are practical.
Maqina said he wished there were more “art schools” and if only they could focus on practical subjects which learners would not have to struggle with in class. “I think the youth must believe in themselves and everyone should take pride in speaking their home languages and stop trying to accommodate people,” he said.
He encouraged the youth to be proud of who they are and to develop the places where they live instead of relocating to other areas. “The government cannot do everything for us, that’s why we should go back to where we come from and help improve their areas the best we can,” stated Maqena.
Keanan Johnson is 24 and lives in Eldorado Park, south of Johannesburg.
He told Kathorus MAIL that today’s youth lacks direction. “All the games and events our parents used to play and celebrate are all dead. South Africa needs young people who will move the country forward and we cannot do this if we do not know who we are and where we come from,” said Johnson, who described his worst hate as the rampant corruption among politicians. He said the youth needs to stand together and fight against the problems the country is facing. “I want to see myself free in the next 20 years from now because that’s what Mandela fought for.”
Johnson told Kathorus MAIL that “It is not yet uhuru for the youth in South Africa and added that as a black person he and other youths his age still feel oppressed and disadvantaged.”
His dream was to become a scientist but he ended up working at a “call centre”. “Things just didn’t work out the way I had wished. But, should the opportunity present itself again, I would take it open heartedly,”
concluded Johnson.Agnes Radebe (24)
Agnes Radebe (24) is a construction worker from Limpopo who recently moved to Alexandra in order to be closer to work. Agnes told Kathorus MAIL that she gets frustrated by people who just sit around doing nothing with their lives, thinking that there is nothing they can do because they did not finish school or do not have money to go to school. “I am hoping for a better tomorrow, that one day our youth will find it in themselves to be serious about life,” said Agnes.
“Life needs to be lived. You don’t need to exist on earth but you need to live a life that matters.
“I think the youth of today should just be serious about education and building their future.”
She wanted to study criminal law but because of certain circumstances, she had to do civil engineering. To her, it’s all about going out there and doing what you love or settling for something that will help you get by. It’s all about putting in an effort.
“As much as I wanted to study law, my morals outweighed what I wanted to do.” She feels like she would have been expected to defend criminals and promote corruption. The 24-year-old says that if our political life does not change our economy will be stagnant and other countries will not invest in our companies. There will be a financial struggle and our Rand will depreciate. According to her, nothing would have changed in 20 years if our government does not change its ways.
22-year-old Boitumela Matros decided to study logistics because it is a male-dominated industry but she claims that people are not well informed about the industry. Although she did commercial subjects at high school and studying medicine was her first preference, she changed her mind because she realised the opportunities that are available in both the public and the private sector in the field she is in.
She has hopes of empowering the youth and seeing the youth create businesses that will grow globally. Boitumelo says she is frustrated at how most young people are giving up on life, “The youth is now turning to drugs and they have lost hope,” said Boitumelo. She added that the youth should be empowered in order for them to be hungry for success and she wants to see more powerful women in the business industry.
“I am close to my mother – I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her,” Boitumelo stated. “My mother always pushes me to be a better person and to never give up on my dreams. The youth should stop doing drugs and be having unprotected sex,” she said. “People should be dedicated to their school work or bettering their lives.”
At 22, Teiglor Cox is studying BCom Law at UNISA. She said she was motivated to study law after seeing how reckless and ungrateful our youth is. She stated that today’s youth are different from the youth of 1976. She said the youth today expect everything to be given to them on a silver platter. “They expect to be spoon fed – they don’t have a sense of working hard.” She added that most youths are simply lazy and do not respect the higher authority.
“When something is given to them by the government they find something wrong with it.” She used an example about the #FeesMustFAll strike. She pointed out that fees at public universities are much cheaper compared to fees at private institutions.
The 22-year-old Teighlor Cox said she is frustrated by the youth’s lack of drive and their expectation to get things for free. “The youth needs to also realise that they cannot go around destroying things,” said Cox. She said she hopes today’s youth would understand that nothing is free in life and that nothing comes easy. She added that destructive strikes in which people burn down valuable infrastructure will not improve lives,
“We are the very same people who suffer after we’ve burnt down these things.”
Cox explained that the youth of today needs to understand that as much as they might be the youth of today, but if they continue the way they do there will be nothing left for tomorrow’s youth to enjoy. “They need to make sure that every opportunity that is thrown at them, good or bad, they need to take it and make something out of it.”
Buhle Nkambule, aged 20, says that she hopes for a better South Africa. A country with no boundaries, she’s hoping to see the youth aspire to make the country as good as they make the Hollywood out to be. “I’m hoping to see a better South Africa where there’s freedom,” said Buhle. She wants a country where nobody is subjected to live according to other people’s standards. This 20-year-old said: “I would like to see our country so original that we do not feel any pressure from other countries.”
Buhle told Kathorus MAIL that she is disappointed in our youth and that she feels as if we are not doing enough both politically and in general. “I think there is a lot to be done and most South Africans are ignorant.” And, according to Nkambule, everyone is doing things to gain individually and no one else considers the growth of the country as a whole. She voiced out that the politics in the country frustrate her. “There is just too much corruption, ignorance and selfish leadership.” She’s frustrated at how our politicians seem to have forgotten where we come from as a country and as black people.
“Improvement in politics would go a long way – it would mean a great deal to the economy,” said Nkambule. She thinks that doing things for the right reasons as politicians would improve our country.
Buhle sees a better South Africa 20 years from now – more opinionated young people. Medical discoveries in SA, chronic illness cures found in SA and most importantly a free South Africa. Free financially, economically and politically.
All seven candidates interviewed said they hope our politicians would change their ways and that the youth would start taking education seriously.
