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The future of South Africa will not be determined by policy documents alone. It will be shaped by the homes we build, the communities we strengthen, the values we uphold and the opportunities we create for young people
YOUTH DEVELOPMENT

Youth Month calls for more than celebration — it calls for stronger families and communities

Fifty years after the 1976 uprising, South Africa faces a critical question: What is the state of its youth? Beyond visible issues like unemployment and poverty, a quieter crisis…

  • Cassius Selala
4 min read
While aggregate joblessness was historically high before 1994, the rate of young people locked out of the economy has surged to unprecedented levels, defining this generation's struggle
YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT

Youth Day at 50: The new struggle is the fight for a future

Youth Day honours the young people who rose up in Soweto in 1976 — students who paid with their lives to resist an education system deliberately engineered to diminish them.…

  • Linda Meyer
6 min read
Youth unemployment remains very high. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
SOUTH AFRICA

Same fight, different adversary: From political oppression in 1976 to economic exclusion in 2026

South Africa commemorates 32 years of democracy, 50 years since the Soweto uprising, and 30 years since its progressive Constitution. Yet, despite political freedom, the nation's…

  • Isabel Bosman-Burnett
  • Nosipho Dube
5 min read
In recent weeks, anti-immigrant violence and intimidation have spread across several communities, forcing migrants to flee their homes, seek shelter in public buildings or even request repatriation to their countries of origin. (Paul Botes)
SOUTH AFRICA

From victim to vanguard: Is South Africa at risk of becoming a villain?

South Africa's modern history, framed by "V" metaphors from victim to vanguard, now faces a critical juncture. Recent xenophobic attacks against African migrants raise…

  • Seifudein Adem
5 min read
YOUTH DEVELOPMENT

Safer communities start with investing in the mental well-being of our youth

South Africa's youth face immense psychosocial and economic insecurities, stemming from intergenerational trauma, historical injustices, and modern challenges like poverty and…

  • Nozipho January Bardill 1
4 min read
Graphic by John McCann
SOUTH AFRICA

South Africa is failing the generation it claims to celebrate

While South Africa commemorates the youth of 1976 every June, millions of young people today face a stark reality of unemployment and economic exclusion. This article explores…

  • Nancy Dusani
7 min read
Passages of mind: Lesedi Molefi’s memoir Patient 12A explores his battle with mental illness. Photo: Thabiso Molatlhwa/Richart Productions
AKESO CLINIC

Lesedi Molefi’s Patient 12A is a whirlpool of consciousness

Lesedi Molefi’s memoir Patient 12A explores his battle with mental illness.

  • Pheladi Sethusa
5 min read