The long walk to economic freedom for the youth

THE most appropriate homage to the 1976 generation of young activists would be for the youth of today to take up the revolutionary baton and complete the race for total liberation in South Africa.

- KIM HELLER

This will require a focused and resolute vision and purpose, coupled with the spirit of fierce commitment to freedom and justice demonstrated by the youth in South Africa in June 1976.

When the youth protested on June 16, 1976, they did so with clarity, conviction, and courage. Their mission was not only to fight against the indignity of being taught in Afrikaans but to stand up against the injustice of apartheid, which brutally crushed the hopes and dreams of African people. They nobly fulfilled their generational mission.

While political democracy has dawned in South Africa, the youth of today, the Born Frees, are yet to find their pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Instead, caught in the stillbirth of economic liberation, they are at risk of becoming a lost generation.

Rather than building on the solid foundation of the struggles of yesteryear and being the architects of a more prosperous tomorrow for future generations, today’s youth are caught in the ruins of historical injustice and inequality. Wandering like waifs along a deserted path, hopeless and hapless.

The picture is gloomy. There are well over three million unemployed young South Africans. The education system is failing miserably in addressing systemic imbalances. Government job creation is limited and ineffective. Universities are graduating students who cannot find jobs.