June 16 Message By Cde Dada Moreroa, Anc Greater Johannesburg Regional Secretary
“Where is the youth”, a recent headline in a newspaper that caught my attention. Whilst then headline seemed like another betting one for the month of June, it seemed to have a deeper sense of urgency given the current South African political and economic context.
June 1976 is a bleak and tragic chapter, written in our history with the blood of thousands of innocent young souls, armed with determination and a burning sense of bravery, who stood against a draconian regime.
The class of ’76 is a catalyst generation which faced the apartheid regime head on, demanding their own
justice on education. Forty-four (44) years ago on this day, thousands of youth organized themselves to demand the obliteration of the Afrikaans language in their curriculum. This bravery and decisiveness resulted in many youthful souls being brutally murdered at the hands of oppressors in Soweto, New Briton, Duduza and almost everywhere else in the land of our forebears.
These young fearless lions were advancing the course for freedom and justice under a banner of black power. Fast forward into the democratic dispensation we need to make an assessment of whether conditions for the youth have changed. In 2020 we commemorate this day under difficult and extra ordinary conditions which have paralyzed what we have consumed as normality for decades. We are confronted with a pandemic that has exposed glaring inequalities and how the system still disadvantages the black majority. One of the most tragic realities currently on an alarming rise, is femicide and gender-based violence. The recent cases have demonstrated the gruesome state black women find themselves in. Unfortunately, society and the State can’t act like this is the first time. In recent years we have watched grass movements raise awareness about this pandemic. Femicide has indeed become a pandemic. The zeal and energy demonstrated to curb the COVID19 pandemic must urgently be redirected towards this crisis. The youth of today, men and women must rise up against this injustice.
Women are not safe, women can’t breathe. How many more deaths must we witness to change laws, how many bodies must be recovered, how many women must be raped. As Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi recently said “We don’t have the luxury of peddling legalism when it sacrifices justice”. If indeed the current laws ought to be challenged for justice to be served, the current generation must do so with a burning sense of urgency. Law isn’t always just, as apartheid proved.
Across the globe, we have also witnessed how racial times are also on the rise where black men and women are subjected to police brutality. In our own backyard the police force has been found wanting with the same force murdering innocent men. The system of racialised capitalism and oppression has not change despite decades of efforts to change it.
This demands a new generation of thinkers, leaders and mavericks who are fearless in their pursuit of justice. The current conditions are not new but a new phenomenon merely exposed deep-seated contradictions which were never addressed in the first place. The current generation of young people must unashamedly take their rightful place in the echelons of power and seize this epoch to prepare adequately to respond to current revolutionary demands.
Just like the era which gave rise to the class of 76, this is no time for apologists or romanticizing politics. There is a sense of urgency in the air and turbulence which can no longer be contained. The class of 2020 must take its rightful place in history.
The behavior of the society is a sign of what has been instilled in our bringing up. Has the society failed the youth? Has the society instilled anger in our youth, are these teachings the results of femicide? We need to redirect our youth, show them new ways of thinking, and equip and educate them with new tools either than anger.
It is a societal responsibility, if we want the same young fearless lions of 76, we need to instill new values like strengthening self-esteems of our young boys and girls. This will result in
better behaviors fueled not by anger. Let’s support our youthful minds and thoughts, let’s show them love and appreciation.
Power to the People
Dada Morero
Johannesburg Region Secretary