The 50th anniversary of the 16 June 1976 student uprising raises questions about the relevance of celebrating Youth Day amid damning revelations at the Madlanga commission.
An estimated four out of 10 young people are classified as not in employment, education or training. Allegations of corruption and criminality in state institutions deepen insecurity and disillusionment among young South Africans.
Itumeleng Makgetla, an assistant lecturer at the University of Pretoria and a political analyst, said the Madlanga commission has further damaged low public trust in the police and weakened young people’s confidence in institutions.
“The stature of the police in society has been reduced to nothing; no one respects the police anymore. Back then, police were seen as figures
of security.”
Makgetla said many young people had become focused on individual success after being disappointed by self-serving public officials.
“The youth of today have decided that while all these things go on, they want material benefit and complete independence.”
In the upcoming weeks, the Madlanga commission of inquiry will interview key high-profile police officials who have been implicated in corruption, drug smuggling and organised crime. Witness testimony this past week focused on two drug theft cases — in Johannesburg, Aeroton and in Durban at the Hawks Port Shepston facility — involving Counter-Intelligence head Feroz Khan and KwaZulu-Natal Hawks boss Lesetja Senona.
“Young people no longer have buy-in to societal institutions. They ask: ‘What is the point of being a good person alone when society is rotten to the core?’”
He said that although the revelations at the commission’s hearing had been shocking, the conditions in municipalities had long contributed to a decline in youth civic participation.
“The attitude now is: ‘No one really cares about anybody.’ As a result, the plan becomes to focus on oneself.
Nonkululeko Mntambo, the capacity building and advocacy manager at Kagiso Trust, said the commission’s revelations exposed a government that appeared to serve only a particular segment of society.
“The Madlanga commission is a symptom of a greater problem. What freedom has often become is a cycle in which opportunities are passed down within a narrow stream.”
Mntambo said South Africa’s inequality, more than 30 years after the dawn of democracy, was reflected in who could evade accountability.
She said the commission’s revelations raised questions about justice, security and youth agency when the country was falling apart.
“It raises the question of who this country actually belongs to. Youth activism is young people responding by saying that it belongs to them.”
Mntambo said South Africans needed to revisit the demands the youth of 1976 made.
“We have to go back to what the youth of 1976 were asking for and ask whether they got it,” she said.
“You have to face the reality that most young people are unemployed and struggle to access education. We do not have security in our future.”
Mntambo said that 50 years after the uprising, many young people could not afford the bare minimum: “When is our moment?” she asked.
Nomahlozi Ramohloki, the dialogue and advocacy coordinator at the Nelson Mandela Foundation, said Youth Day remained an important moment to reflect on the spirit of youth agency and its relevance.
“It is about taking the future into our own hands and deciding the kind of life we want to live, rather than expecting anyone to hand it to us,” she said.
Ramohloki said the spirit of the uprising continued to resonate.
“Even on Mandela Day, we reflect on Nelson Mandela’s message that ‘it is in your hands’. If you are not an active and willing citizen, nothing will happen. Youth Day gives us a sense of agency and accountability,” she said.
Ramohloki said the upcoming Creator Not Captives Youth Day dialogue, hosted by the foundation, was intended to create a space for intergenerational engagement where young people could explore alternatives to one of their most pressing challenges: unemployment.
“We are not looking for quick fixes. We want to identify long-term solutions that can help young people overcome the systemic barriers that continue to limit their livelihoods.”