Being young is not about your age, but how you contribute to society

June is the month when South Africans are reminded about the tremendous sacrifices pupils like Tsietsi Mashinini, Hector Pieterson and Sibongile Mkhabela made on 16 June 1976.

These teenagers – who were forced to be anti-apartheid activists – put their lives and beliefs on the line to fight for equality and freedom for all South Africans. For that, their countryfolk genuinely thank them.

As a 40-year-old now, more interested in how my pension fund is performing than the latest TikTok trend, Youth Month makes me want to reclaim my youth. There is only one way you can truly do this: go out of your comfort zone.

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The Hot One and I were invited by Glenmorangie Whisky to Grammy Award-winning musician Zakes Bantwini’s 43rd birthday celebration.

The catch was, it was at Propaganda – SA’s largest nightclub, based in Pretoria. Plus, the gig started after 11pm, two hours after my normal bedtime. Before we even arrived in the capital, I had heart palpitations as I had no idea if the dress code was black tie or smart-casual.

Judging by the crowd, it was gangster, complete with torn jeans perched halfway up your backside.

After stopping myself at least twice from taking a nap in the shuttle, I was convinced my wife … I mean side chick … and I had forgotten we were ever adolescents, as everything was foreign.

The amapiano tunes blaring from a million speakers had enough bass to prompt The Hot One to dig furiously in her handbag in search of earplugs, while I sought sonic solace in the male bathroom every half hour.

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After advising some scantily clad young ladies about the drawbacks of hypothermia and reading a health journal about the dangers of vaping to a group of young men, I learnt an important lesson.

Being young is not about your age, but rather how you contribute to society.

The youth of ’76 were regarded as insignificant by the apartheid regime, but they were titans who changed the course of a country.

If they could take on a monster like discrimination, then I could sing Happy Birthday at 2am and have the best time since I was last in a club, 20 years ago.

As the youth and incontinent of SA, what will we do to ensure we change the course of our country?

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