Beyond Youth Month: the ongoing struggle of SA's youth

YOUTH Month may have ended, but the reality facing young South Africans has not changed with the turning of a calendar page.

- PREVIN VEDAN

This is not a June issue. This is a July issue, an August issue, and an every-month issue until change comes.

I was born on Youth Day. Not just into a date, but into a mission. For most people June 16 is a symbol. For me, it has been a summons. A daily reminder of what it means to inherit a nation still searching for its soul, and what it means to carry forward a legacy written in both blood and possibility.

At 26 years old, I was elected one of the youngest councillors in South Africa. I was often referred to as a youth leader, but the title came with more weight than celebration.

In my community, a councillor is not just a representative he is the father, the fire extinguisher, the provider, the undertaker. I buried the young dead, negotiated with the government, calmed burning streets, and stood in courtrooms where hope had long since withered.

The role forced me to grow up fast. My youth was different from that of others it was something I endured while carrying the burdens of others.

Now, at 33, I find myself looking back and forward all at once. I am still called 'young, but how does a 33-year-old, forged by duty, truly relate to an 18-year-old who is trying to find their place in a country where the rules keep changing, the jobs keep disappearing, and the violence keeps knocking at the door?