I dedicate this input to the gallant fighters of the Struggles of our People , lead by the Leader of the People Oliver Tambo the father of the liberation struggle.I write this input with excitement in memory of the Historic Day of the Release of Nelson Mandela the Son of the Struggle . I wish to take a leaf in the life of these giants of the liberation movements in engaging in the Youth Role going forward.
The Youth Movement in South Africa As the Youth Movement we posses a special feature that make us energetic to pursue our goals to improve the lives of our people. As future leaders we need to have a role in influencing the kind of society that we will inherit. The Youth of SA must champion the interest of the Youth in our Country, society and all the other marginalized sectors in our Country. We need a Youth that will contribute towards the countries Vibrancy, Youthful Political /Economic and social debates, and research and dispose our quantitative and qualitative skills for the growth of the Economy. We need to bridge between the present generation of youth knowledge and the older generation to improve our capacity and compliment our efforts of building a truly a better future. (Gramsci has this to say *when the new and the old coexist the new is always uncomfortable with the old and the old is always uncomfortable with the new*). In SA we must create balance for these generations to appreciate one another. The other must learn from the other in order to influence society. All youth structure should reflect this new image and Youthfulness we seek to engender to the Youth of SA. We must build a Youth that will lead in the forefront on Social development issues confronting communities by taking up these challenges, engage local Authorities and business around social and economic development campaigns, working with learners in improving quality of the output in secondary education. We must Preoccupy the Youth of SA in all levels with less rhetoric and more practical work and campaigns with a direct meaning to their daily challenges. The Youth of our Country must always be inspired amongst other things by the gallant heroes and heroines ( Albert Chief Luthuli ,Oliver Tambo, Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki,Joe Slovo and Terror lekota) of the struggle of our people who fought against the demon of racism and inequality in our country. We must always find inspiration from their courage and determination, as well as their love for humanity and freedom. This generation of people was selfless and even when many of them were facing death, they were motivated by their love for freedom and humanity, and they never turned back on the struggle for freedom. The successful struggles of the world in the main were spearheaded by the militant and vibrant intelligentsia of the gallant struggles of all our people .The Youth in these historic moments was in the forefront of the cause for justice. All these generations of Young people were always inspired by their love for humanity and freedom. The fall of many liberation movements in Africa and the world was the failure to identify correct issues that inspires the Youth in joining their organizations. The Liberation organizations in our country are challenged to respond to this issue. (General Public Youth Opinion and Perception: I join Political organizations Because its Classy, succefull people ,business , i want to be part of the celebrity bling .The change of the South Africa state from an Apartheid state to democratic state ushered in new possibilities for the Youth of our country. What inspired the Youth of the struggle against apartheid has changed now, and the Youth of the democratic breakthrough is inspired by opportunities of freedom. This resulted in the continuing obsession by many to wealth and quick wealth, detaching social responsibility and redistribution. This venom resulted to an obsession, with power which resulted to patronage and later produced nepotism and corruption. The opposition organization are therefore not immune also from this demon of the societal contradiction. The Obsession of Power has always been a down fall of the liberation Movement in Africa. In the Past decade the growth in new business initiatives has escalated than Non governmental organizational opened due to the fact that our people view the private sector as the only sector to make quick money for a better life for individuals only, this in the main has been dominated by people who are active in Politics across the board. This interesting development is that this phase has no direct impact to the ordinary people waiting for better services. The above trend is dangerous for new democracy like SA, as this cannot be what inspires its Youth or this cannot be what can be used to inspire the Youth of our Country. The Youth of SA must be inspired by its love of the Service of our people; we must continue to be inspired by our love to defend our freedom and democracy. We must not be inspired by the favours we receive in exchange for patronage .We must not be inspired by how close we are to the leadership. We must refuse to be used for leadership preferences in spheres of life. Youth and Leadership South African liberation organization should learn from the Collapse of the KANU Youth Movement (Jomo Kenyatta), Tanzania Liberation Movement (Julius Njerere),( Kenneth Kaunda Party), African National Congress (Mandela) in all these organization they collapsed through Party Careerism, Patronage , containment of the Youth Voice. The energy of the Youth was misdirected to serve the elderly in positioning themselves for responsibility in Party. In the congress of the People this is beginning to find its expression in the Youth Movement. If all Political organizations allows this tendency to establish itself, any attempt to combat the demon of Patronage will result in factionalism and infighting within the organizations. This will result in the development of Personality Cult in the leadership of the organizations. In the history of many liberation movements the Leadership or a Leader will surround himself /herself with individuals who do not question /his/her authority or style of leadership. The leadership becomes paranoid that any member who articulates a different view is seen as the enemy that must be eliminated; suspended or expelled. This group becomes a clique used to threaten dissenting views. Battle for the Soul of the Youth The Battle to capture the Youth Voice is informed either by the desire to save the nation from the divisive elements or a desire to entrench factionalism within the organizations and structures .The failure of the Cong People of SA not to unilaterally focus in building a coherent, militant and Discipline voice of the youth will be a demise of the achievements of OR Tambo and Mandela from the beginning. We need to build a Youth that will be inspired by the service to the Poor and Love for unity and cohesion of all our People. Is Youth leadership an entitlement or a responsibility and if this is a responsibility why is the lack of functional structures of the Youth development and Women development has not been dealt with decisively? The primary objective of the Youth of the Congress of the People is to Rally young people behind. facing the organization is a reflection of an organization created to manage change not to force change. I wish all as we celebrate the 20th of the release of Mandela reflect and review the life of our struggle and the Role of the youth. Viva Oliver Tambo Viva Nelson Mandela Viva Terror lekota Viva Nqaba Bhanga in his personal Capacity Disclaimer Before acting on the contents of this e-mail, the recipient should verify that the originator has the appropriate authority and any person neglecting to obtain such verification will be acting entirely at his/her own risk. Please further note that any confidential, private or privileged information contained in the message is subject to legal privilege. -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] .
