“Growing up in a black township, one surrounded- ed by wealthy suburbs, where black people were doing peasant work for white masters who treated them with disrespect. The levels of poverty, lack of equal educational opportunities across racial lines, and lack of housing and poor healthcare by the apartheid regime – all got me inspired to play my part through a platform given to me, to form part of the leadership collective of activists in my area.”

Being proactive was the lesson learnt

“I learnt to always take a proactive approach in our socio-political environment, as there has been a paradigm shift. Emotive forces are concerned and this poses a challenge to the leadership, which at times finds itself being reactive, instead of being proactive. I have learned that leaders must refrain from displaying celebrity attitudes but should rather humble themselves. They should respond to the challenges of the emotive forces, as these keep on evolving and ought to be responded to with conviction, in line with the resolution in place at the particular moment in time, without complacency”.

His generational mission is economic emancipation

“It is to realise the dream of economic emancipation in our lifetime, which would transfer the means of production from the hands of the minority, to the majority. To have an economy that is able to take care of black workers, by way of ensuring that their remuneration equals that of their white counterparts, which would enable them to create wealth out of a salary, just as it is with white people and people of Asian descent. It is also for quality education for our children, which would be free – up to tertiary levels, which should be funded through exceptional taxation from the rich and wealthy”.

The key roles he has played in the MDM include

“I have been in the forefront of the continued struggle for economic freedom for our people through my participation in the ANCYL, SANCO, and in the SACP – all of which I served with. Distinction and have utilised them as vehicles with which to drive the agenda for the kind of change we desire for our people”.

“We have been advocating to get rid of schools made of containers and replace these with bricks and mortar to enable teachers to teach in a more conducive environment and for learners to be in a safe environment. I also fought for local SMMEs to be considered whenever there are economic opportunities in our area, by advocating for a 30% principle to be applied consistently.”

He also advocated for women to be given equal opportunities as their male counterparts for any opportunities in the area. “I was the one, who started the school patrol system when it was not there, and we spoke to the district director, who then spoke the MEC, and the system was integrated with the CPF as we know it today, which carries a stipend”.

Young South Africans should value education and be given opportunities to grow “I would like to see young people becoming innovative and taking charge of their own destiny, by taking advantages of opportunities made available to them by the government and becoming part of solutions as part of the leadership collective in government and in the private sector. They should prioritize education, which should enable them to nurture black engineers, scientists and to control the economy. They should be afforded space and opportunities to excel, so as to bank and invest on their experience as a nation”.