Let us celebrate those who had the courage to deliver democracy to South Africa

Statement by Khume Ramulifho for Youth Day, June 16 2010

On Youth Day, we pay tribute to those young people who had the courage to face down the apartheid government in Soweto on this day 34 years ago. Those young people were not driven by materialism, greed or personal political advancement. They were motivated by a desire for fairness, justice and democracy. They shared in common a belief in equality before the law and fair opportunities for everyone.

Nearly three and a half decades later, South Africa has changed beyond recognition. We are a democracy. Everyone can vote for the party of their choice. We have a constitution which guarantees individual rights and obliges the government to progressively extend economic opportunities for all. In the past, we were excluded from international sporting events and now we are hosting the biggest of them all, the FIFA World Cup. And we are showing on and off the field that we can compete with the best.

So, there is much to celebrate today. And, if Bafana Bafana wins against Uruguay tonight, it really will be the mother of all celebrations. But before we get carried away, we must be mindful of the challenges facing young South Africans. We must not allow the World Cup to suspend our reality. Whatever way you look at it, being young in South Africa is not easy. Three quarters of unemployed South Africans are between the ages of 15 and 34. That is 3.1 million young people out of work. Last year, there were eighteen schools around the country in which not one grade 12 pupil passed. The matric pass rate overall, now at 60%, is declining every year. HIV/Aids is an ever-present threat to the health and future of our youth. Young people are increasingly turning to drugs and alcohol to escape.

How do we turn the situation around? How do we ensure that young South Africans become agents of change and not passive victims? How do we empower young people to take charge of their own futures and not rely on state handouts for survival? The young people who rose up in Soweto were not passive victims. They were agents of change. When they stood up to the apartheid police, they did it for themselves, not for any political party. And they did it in a different context. Because there were denied the vote, they had no choice but to rise up in protest.

In South Africa today, if you are unhappy with your circumstances, you can change them. You must do it by using the power of your vote. If you think another party can do a better job governing this city or this province or this country, you are free to vote for them. In fact, it is your duty to vote for them. This is what democracy is about. It is the democracy that the young lions of 1976 wanted to bring about.

The ANC Youth League will try and take credit for the Soweto uprising. But remember: those young people who rose up were not from the ANC Youth League or any other organisation. The ANC Youth League of today has nothing in common with the young people who rose up in Soweto. The Youth League leadership of today is not selfless and courageous. They are selfish and outrageous. They do not ask: what can I do for the country? They ask: what can the country do for me? And, instead of building a better South Africa, they destroy things when they don’t get their way. They are destructive, not constructive.

The Youth League revealed its true colours in Makhaza in the last few months. When the government tried to enclose the toilets provided by the City of Cape Town, the ANC Youth League tore them down because they could not allow the DA to deliver to the people. It was clear that the Youth League would rather poor people suffer than get better service delivery from the DA than they got from the ANC. We know this because the people of that community want to work with the DA-run City and the Province so that we can help them improve their lives over time. They tell us that the ANC Youth League does not represent them. But they are afraid of the ANC Youth League because it threatens them with violence. So when the Youth League claims to represent them, they do not speak out. It is time for this gatekeeping to stop.

It is time for people especially young people to reject the ANC Youth League’s obstructive and destructive behaviour. It is time for people to become drivers of their own destiny, not helpless passengers on the ANC’s road to nowhere.