As part of celebrating the contribution of the youth in the fight for liberation in South Africa and the 41st Commemoration of the Soweto Uprising, where students took to the streets to protest against the apartheid policy of making Afrikaans the medium of instruction in black schools, certain young Members of Parliament (MPs) were asked to comment on the relevance of June 16 and the new struggles facing the youth of today, writes Sakhile Mokoena.
Democratic Alliance’s (DA) MP in the National Assembly, Ms Hlumela Bucwa (24) said: “June 16 for me serves a symbolic reminder of the struggles when young people came together to say ‘enough is enough, our generation will change the status quo’. They were fighting an unjust system that failed to recognise us – this is a reminder for me to say they had a particular mandate to fulfil and I, as a young person in 2017, I also have a role and mandate to fulfil. So we should never forget the important role that the youth played then and the responsibility that lies before us as young people today.
“It is very fundamental to understand what our mission is, particularly as the new generation, it is simply to fight for quality education. I think it was more about an unjust system that they had to eradicate, because of that system they were unable to get proper quality education. For me, our struggle is to eradicate the social injustices that still prevail in our society – some of which are poor education, no access to housing and no access to basic things that we need as human beings. Because if you give me an education, I am able to extricate myself from poverty and change my personal circumstances.
“Parliament plays a critical role because these are lawmakers. The laws that they pass affect people directly in society and on the ground level. One of the first responsibilities is to go out and get a mandate from our people to understand what their struggles and challenges are, so that when we make laws and policies we should ensure that they provide economic opportunities to the youth of South Africa, provide proper access and success to education for the youth of South Africa. So there is a fundamental role that we are going to play in alleviating their dire situation from the challenges they are facing, like all sorts of social ills and poverty.
“We have got a critical role as lawmakers to change the circumstances of the youth of South Africa. The Constitution of our country is one of our key pillars that keep us together – it is only ironic that I was four years old when it was adopted. But to think and to read particularly the Bill of Rights – those rights must not just be words on paper, they need to be lived experiences, they need to be practical on the ground.
“It doesn’t matter for me to say ‘I have the right to education’ but there is no proper access to education. I can’t say you have got a right to basic services but I’m not granting you those services. It is very relevant now to serve as a guiding document – what we need to do as lawmakers is to ensure that South Africans have access to better things in life, in accordance with the rights that are enshrined in our Constitution.”
African National Congress’s (ANC) MP, who is also the Gauteng Permanent Delegate to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), Ms Tasneem Motara (34) said: “June 16 for me is about commemorating young people who took to the streets to define what type of future they wanted, who realised that education was important, but who realised that the type of education that they were receiving at the time, in 1976, was not going to assist them to become productive older people or even young people back then.
“It was a system that was created to make them weaker, make them less important and make them less productive – and they needed to stand up for what it is that they wanted and define themselves for that time. But also decide what type of future they wanted – so for me June 16 is about commemorating them and realising that as young people, we have it in us to be able to decide what we want for ourselves for our future.
“I think the struggle in 1976 was not just about education, it was about the future and our struggle today as young people is about the future, what type of future do we want? You can argue and say it is about economic development, you can argue and say it is about opportunities to education, you can argue and ay it is about economic emancipation – but it ultimately boils down to the future.
“What is it that we want our future to look like? Do we want to participate actively in the economy, do we want to own it, do we want to own the quality of education that we receive, that will make us active participants, not only in South Africa but globally as well? Parliament plays a central role because young people in South Africa represent the majority of the population. We have a young population, the youth cohort is a majority – and if we don’t advocate for what young people are saying, the issues and concerns that they are raising, the types of challenges and struggles that they are facing and how to overcome them – we might come and find out that we are irrelevant with regard to the types of laws that we pass. We might find a disjuncture between ourselves and what is actually happening on the ground.
“Parliament plays a very important role – because we must take into consideration those types of solutions and make sure that they fit into the types of laws that we are passing. Coming to the relevance of the Constitution to the youth of today – we like to speak about the ‘born-frees’, the young people who can vote today but couldn’t vote 20 years ago or prior to the adoption of the Constitution – we have to find ways of bringing South Africans together, from all walks of life.
“The Constitution has given birth to the basis of what we want to create as South Africans – so young people have got to locate themselves within those rights and responsibilities that are enshrined in the Constitution, but also to be able to make use of the Constitution, make use of the rights that we have – those responsibilities, the structures that are there, open to everybody – celebrate what does it mean to be ‘born-free’ – have we been able to internalise the Constitution?
“How meaningful is the Constitution to them (the ‘born-frees’) – is it just a piece of paper or are they really internalising what it means to be a South African using the Constitution as a basis for the type of future that we want?”
National Assembly’s Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) MP, Mr Mkhuleko Hlengwa (30) said: “June 16 means a lot of things to me particularly for young people, because it is a reminder of where we come frim but also more importantly, where we need to take the country.
“South Africa is besieged with a lot of challenges and the youth of 1976 challenge us to rise to the occasion of dealing with our own challenges in our lifetime. It might be a different setting, it might be a different time but the energy of the youth continues to resonate in 2017 and continues doing so moving forward – and therefore June 16 tells us as young people today, standing on the shoulders of historic giants who were able to put their lives at the forefront for our own benefits, the biggest question is: are prepared to do that as the youth of 2017 for future generations?
“Therefore, June 16 is important for all young people, and to me it means that we need to keep on going. The struggles of youth in 2017 remain the high levels of unemployment, which stand at record high of 27%. We have the challenges of access to quality education right now, fees must fall is one such challenge, we have got an economy that is not growing (sluggish) and we have got high levels of poverty, we have a situation where social ills are the alpha and omega of the live of our young people.
“The issues of women abuse – are all things which touch on young people. We may have attained political freedom in 1994 but in 2017 we find ourselves on the back foot, and that we have become nothing more than voting fodder. When we voted for five years there is an absence of interaction, there is an absence of engagement and that needs to change and the only way to change is if the youth of 2017 moving forward, they themselves stand up to be counted and say we refuse to be an instalment of which every five years someone engages – but on a daily basis, as active citizenry we want to be at the forefront – challenging issues constructively, providing solutions and ensuring that in such a manner we are listened to and what we need happens.
“I believe strongly that there is a new energy in South Africa now, where young people are rising to the challenge, are rising to the occasion and wanting to be heard, especially the proliferation of social media in South Africa has been an added advantage to the need and success of hearing the youth voice where new discussions are taking place and we are able to speak across different cultures and different languages.
“South Africa, through social media, has become globalised internally because we have come together. Parliament has a huge role to play in youth development because it is at the heart of decision-making. It is where the final decisions are taken. Government will come and make proposals – you have a situation where even now Parliament does have a youth structure. How are some people supposed to be part and parcel if there is not even a structure? I’ve been here in Parliament since 2012, and every year for the past five years I have raised this issue with the Presiding Officers, with the Chief Whips and it has come to naught and it becomes important because if you have gender-sensitive budgeting, it follows that you need youth-sensitive budgeting.
“We have a multi-party women’s caucus and so as young people we are not in that space of decision-making and you need to make sure that you formalise that space. It’s no use relying on me as an individual Member of Parliament just because I’m a young person, because whatever I say does not have the authority of an official structure. Secondly, that structure will assist in ensuring that whatever government departments bring to Parliament – policy, budgeting and so on – that structure will be able to benchmark those things against the collective interests of young people.
“So you need to have an organised parliamentary structure for young people to be able to express themselves, which will rise above the divides of politics and embrace the challenges of young people so they can move forward in unison. We welcome the celebration of the Constitution, 20 years on. It is important because we are reminded once again that South Africa is free and democratic. The Constitution guarantees us rights but what is important for us young people is to note that rights come with responsibility, the Constitution protects us even from ourselves.
“The Constitution is the national vision of the type of society that we want and if all of us keep a clear focus on the Constitution, we will be able to take significant strides forward. It (the Constitution) maintains a healthy system of checks and balances but most importantly, it reminds us of where we come from, our unequal past, an oppressive past and we are now 23 years into our freedom and democracy, with a progressive, free and equality-inducing Constitution.
“Now is the time for us to ask ourselves the serious questions - whether we have met the expectations of the Constitution. Now is the time to assess whether we have achieved the vision of the Constitution and most importantly for us, to defend the provisions of the Constitution, the independence of the Judiciary, the independence of the Chapter 9 Institutions and particularly even now, whether amendments ought to be made to have that honest discussion as a country, we are dealing with the land question. Are the provisions of the Constitution adequate in addressing the land question?
“The Constitution needs to become a living document for young people, for us to interact with it, engage it let that education become important. We want to develop a black intelligentsia in South Africa, a youth intelligentsia in South Africa which is able to grapple with the complex issues of our times and be able to chart a national vision anchored in the NDP (National Development Plan), anchored in the Constitution, anchored in the liberation dream where all of us are equal, have equal opportunities, where the dignity of the black person is restored, and where most importantly, we no longer have to fear that we might go back to the past.
“Recent events challenge us that we must never take for granted the Constitution – the realities of state capture, corruption, and fraud – all undermine the gains the Constitution seeks to advance for all of us – and as young people we must be the custodians of the Constitution because we are not just leaders of tomorrow, we are leaders and we will be accountable tomorrow for the decisions we take today.”
Another National Assembly’s DA MP, Mr Solly Malatsi (31) said: “June 16 means as young people we must be at the forefront of making South Africa a better place. I think what it also means is that young people shouldn’t wait for society to provide solutions. We should be at the forefront of making this country what we want it to be, because if we don’t nobody else will, or those that do so might speak on our behalf. We have the voice and we have the space now. Some of us being in Parliament to be those leading voices to make South Africa a better place for young people, old people and everyone who lives in it.
“The struggles of the youth are plenty – there is high unemployment and education is increasingly expensive, but I think the challenge of young people is basically to be heard. There is so much greatness amongst young people and young people are not looking for handouts, they are looking for proper support. They are looking for a platform to be heard and they are looking for opportunities so that they can show their greatness in society, be it in education, in the economy or in sport.
“So young people are not waiting for some magical intervention to make them better, all they need is to be heard and be given opportunities that will support their dreams so that they can aspire to be the greatest generation that South Africa has ever produced. Parliament is a massive platform and for those young people who have the opportunity to serve in Parliament, it is even more significant because this is where people we used to look up to, used to occupy this space.
“The role Parliament can play is to be sensitive to young people’s voices and not suffocate those voices. As you know, the majority of Parliamentarians aren’t young people – so young people’s voices have to constantly battle to be heard, and Parliament must not look at the robustness and energy of young people as something like negative energy. As young people we cannot be diplomatic when our interests are not taken seriously – we have the energy and it’s high time that such energy is seen as a positive ingredient because we can’t be quiet while the interests of young people are being ignored.
“As young people we realise that the Constitution has unlocked many opportunities and we realise that without the Constitution, our democracy will not have a heartbeat. And over and above that, the Constitution is also a reminder of the massive responsibilities that we have as the current leaders and future leaders of this country: to always be mindful that to bring meaning to the leadership opportunities that we have, is to play by the book and show the utmost respect for our Constitution. And to ensure we don’t just say that when we are within the space of Parliament, but even in society we exude the spirit of the Constitution, so that we know that we are the shining examples that we have always aspired to be - but also we give hope to young people that the respect for the Constitution is not just a box-ticking exercise, but it is in the lifeblood of our aspirations as young people and as leaders.”
19 June 2017
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