A long walk to economic freedom for the youth

Kim Heller

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.

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 16 June 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.

That nearly half of all South Africans aged between 15 and 24 are jobless should be a red flag for the government. Deficient governance and the debauchery of politicians plundering public funds for youth and social development programmes established a bankrupt leadership ethos which misdirects the youth. 

Youth innovation and industry are vital if young South Africans are to prosper. The idea is for the youth to jump-start themselves, but this is unrealistic given the economic constraints and marginalisation of the majority of young people in South Africa. High levels of government and business investment are necessary. So, too, is the correct leadership blueprint.

Youth development cannot flourish on an inkwell of corruption or the poisoned pen of seriously compromised political and business leaders. A 2023 study by the Human Sciences Research Council showed that twenty-three per cent of young South Africans believed that hard work is the best route to better financial status, while forty-nine per cent felt that having political connections was a more effective pathway to prosperity.

Ongoing systemic negligence by the ANC government has produced a despondent, largely paralysed youth stuck in a wheel of dependency on paltry government handouts. Mental health issues are skyrocketing, with suicide being the fourth highest leading cause of death among 15-24-year-olds.

Government handouts need to be replaced, or at least strongly supplemented by a sturdy undercarriage of sustainable public and private sector investment. The Presidency should be obsessed daily with a high target, strictly monitored youth development and empowerment programme, which includes sustainable job creation and start-up youth business hubs across the nation. Anything less is a betrayal of the youth.

Social grant safety nets have become a cage, feeding dependency. In the serial failure of government promises, the youth of today will need to look to themselves for salvation. It is a risky business for many. Research conducted by Global Entrepreneurship Monitor in 2024 found that South Africa's youth were highly risk-averse, with 62% citing fear of failure as a barrier to starting businesses.

Dr Frantz Fanon wrote that "each generation must, out of relative obscurity, discover its mission, fulfil it, or betray it." He stresses the need for the youth to seize its moment. On June 16, 1976,  young African children seized the moment, in the very worst of conditions, and overcame them.

The potential of today's youth to inspire change is immense despite their difficult circumstances. The world bore witness to the unity of the Kenyan youth against the Finance Bill in 2024, which led to a review of government policy. The Nigerian youth protests in 2024 drew world attention and condemnation of police brutality in the nation. Young Sudanese activists have been very vocal and effective in their fight for human rights and good governance. 

In many African countries, including Kenya, Ghana, and Nigeria, youth-led digital enterprises are increasing financial inclusion and greater access to education and are beginning to activate new production and distribution value chains.

An attitude of self-betterment and self-liberation is the redemption song of today's youth. Despair is not a strategy, and noise-making without a coordinated voice is ineffective. Purpose is prince and unity is king. This was aptly demonstrated by the 2024 Kenyan protestors, the children of 1976 in apartheid South Africa, and the Fees Must Fall movement in post-apartheid South Africa. 

A coordinated youth programme is urgently needed to compel the government and businesses to take the plight of young South Africans more seriously. So, too, is a national campaign to self-drive and self-direct youth-driven projects.

The youth of South Africa constitute almost 35 per cent of the overall population. They have the right and responsibility to shape the nation's future. It can be done. Nothing is impossible. In the words of Muhammad Ali, "Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it."

* Kim Heller is a political analyst and author of No White Lies: Black Politics and White Power in South Africa.

** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL, Independent Media or The African.