The 35th Anniversary of June 16 Youth Uprising: The Epochal Metamorphosis.
*[to appear in The Thinker Magazine July/August Edition]* *And so, the condescension that we of greyer hair and emptier scalps tend to evince towards you is as much artificial as it is pretentious. It is an ageism that can be a convenient tool of social control - some rule that there are the deserving - to whom it is decreed by sheer dint of age that they should lead. What we do not realise though is that this has its collorary: treat mature youth like children and they will behave as such!* *They will say anything and do anything, proceeding from the perspective that someone will clean up after them.* *[Joel Netshitenzhe: At 200 young South Africans you must take to Lunch gathering by Mail and Guardian: 08 June 2010] * This year 2011 marks the 35th anniversary of the historic Soweto youth uprising on June 16, 1976. June 16 youth uprising that was in schools, ostensibly, being a rise against the use of Afrikaans language as a medium of instruction in schools imposed by the apartheid system. The uprising against the apartheid system from this angle filled in a palpable political space and a hitherto existing lull internally in South Africa since the last wave of 1973 [Workers] Durban strike that permeated throughout the country; what in appearance started as workers grievances about basic rights such as the demand for the recognition of trade unions and the demand for industrial labour laws reached a crescendo and assumed a serious political action that shook the apartheid system. It is important though to note that such a strike produced some seminal progressive reforms in the system, the appointment of the Wiehann Commission in the late 70's that began to make concessions on industrial labour laws was a product of this wave. This is not to say that there were no political convulsions per se in between these two momentous waves of the 70's decade in various corners of the country. Where they were, could not account for massive national political inertia against the regime as a serious irritation beyond its [regime] ability of coercive quelling and containment. It is important to note that these two epochal political swings of the 70's decade [1973 Durban Strike and June 16], like the formation of the United Democratic Front [UDF] in 1983 for purposes of crystallizing and fuelling mass mobilization at all fronts, was by no means a mere spontaneous initiatives by South African activists and not coordinated somewhere. The movement in exile, consistent with this important pillar of the multi prong-strategy (mass mobilization) to a greater degree informed these decisions. June 16, 1976 highlighted a particular strategic contribution that the youth as an important component can inject in the struggle, shaping not only their destiny but of all the oppressed in their totality. More often, youth and its nexuses with politics tend to be discerned from a reductionist template; that [youth] as a specific sector they are underpinned by misguided militancy, outlandish to strategic and thought leadership and, at best, represent a gloomy future leadership. And this has been the characterisation of youth even in previous generations that has come to pass this leadership phase. Young people, at one point, just after our democratic breakthrough in the mid 90's had to contend with the labelling that they were seen as "lost generation" that offers no hope for future direction. *The texture of our youth * In a bourgeois country like ours, youth represent two characteristic features; they are both a transient stratum that goes through the growth and education which in turn informs their relation to the economy; and, secondly, they are part of the social classes. As part of the social classes, whilst the rest enters labour market as workers/professionals but some therefore, relate with the economy from a point of being business owners and in other various forms of entrepreneurship. This therefore defines their class location and social identity at a point of production. Indeed we have many young people who are at the helm of the economy as owners of businesses, and are doing very well and significantly in this area as pure capitalists. Youth is a dynamic strata within society. They are characterised by social fluidity that defines their very growth, transition to be old, social navigation of self-discovery which again is underpinned, in the main, by a germinating social seeds that are to define them in various streams on how they will relate to the economy. It is also expected that a young person at teenage level, still at school, will relate differently to the one in higher education and the two will relate differently to an already working youth or a business owning one. In South Africa, we made a choice of officially ending the youth age at 35 years which is different to other countries where 30 is a cut off year for being considered young. In most instances at 30 years, going forward, that section of youth already behaves differently than the rest below age. And tend to suffer from the malady of ageism which informs their point of views. Added to that is the levels of responsibilities, which in the main, becomes similar to any South African adult. Issues of starting families and obligations thereto, the preoccupation with making impact in the economy and shaping one's career direction are unavoidable at this age. So the metamorphosis of growth from early age to the exit level of 35 years represent important phases that come to define the rectilinear line in the incubation of the young readying to enter adulthood. But more fundamentally, the overlapping social factor that informs the general pattern of youth, in a given conjuncture, is the social system within which a society is organized. In a socialist system, the orientation, attitudes and perspectives of the youth are symptomatic of that societal physiognomy as does with the youth in a bourgeois society which is consistent with it. It is also true that youth is a contested sector by class forces [working class and the bourgeois class] in strengthening their class position and investing to their class resilience and longevity. In our case, majority of youth are a product of, and therefore evince as a social strata, working class attributes. Their daily trudge and tradition demonstrate that they are a microcosm of this class. But this does not mean that all of them would adopt this social station as their permanent resident. The propertied class always work very hard to attract them through co-optation so that they enhance their social bargaining position as an immersed class in society ranged against the class of paupers. In politics, youth has been and still are agents of social and political transformation. Youth has always defied the logic that they should get prescriptions of how to effect qualitative change in a social system. They have never been the *tabular rasa* like armed forces held in reserve only unleashed strategically, at will, to unlock this and that political nuisance. History all over the World has recorded important decisive epoch-making moments that the youth had made which structurally effected revolutionary change. It should be expected that, by virtue of age and agility, youth will always be impatient and always want to effect change where bottlenecks and whirlpools are entrenched. It is at this level where vibrancy, militancy and occupancy of first line defence in the revolutionary party is expected. When addressing in Paris during Bastille Day in 14 July 1996, President Nelson Mandela said: "Young people are capable, when aroused, of bringing down the towers of oppression and raising the banners of freedom". Of cause these features in the youth wing must be consistently counter-balanced with a strong task of political education which imparts content, discipline, revolutionary morality and sophistication so that militancy and vibrancy is guided by the taught revolutionary politics. *Role of youth in making history* History abounds with ground-breaking political breakthroughs that the youth has been in the vanguard, in some areas in tandem with broader forces of change, thereby redefining history in a qualitative and strategic way. The ANCYL program of defiance campaign which it took to the ANC conference in 1949, Bloemfontein, radicalized the ANC from docility to a more aggressive and fighting liberation movement. The ANCYL out of impatience, pushed and emerged victorious in a number of ways, both in reshaping the ANC's approach to fight the regime and they even took over leadership voting out President General Dr. Xuma with James Moroka. Moroka's collective leadership had key ANCYL leaders firmly in charged of overseeing the implementation of the Defiance campaign. After 1976 wave, the formation of the Congress of South African Students [COSAS] in 1979 solidified continuum in the youth being actively in war with the system. In its congress in 1981, COSAS adopted a resolution calling for the formation of Youth Congress to ensure mobilisation of youth outside of schools. It influenced AZASO in Universities to come closer to the Congress movement. This COSAS move resulted in many atomised youth movements mushrooming but united in heeding the ANC call " make the country ungovernable, make apartheid unworkable". The apex point was the formation of National Youth Organisation [NYO] which became a glue in coordinating mobilization and militancy of youth. Amongst its leaders were Peter Mokaba, Obed Bapela, Dan Motsitsi, David Abrahamse, Cassel Mathale, Frans Mohlala, Deacon mate and many others. It is in this phase of struggle where the organized youth earned the stripes from ANC President Oliver Tambo as " Young Lions" Youth actions together with many various organisations under United Democratic Front [UDF] shook the very foundation of apartheid regime, down to its knees, and this precipitated the declaration of the State of emergency by Botha. It is during this time of state of emergency that NYO formed in 1987 as a successor to itself, the South African Youth Congress [SAYCO] in Cape Town led by Peter Mokaba and Rapu Molekane as President and Secretary General respectively. Leaders such as Simon Ntombela, Mzimasi Mancotywa, Dipuo Peters are a product of this organisation. It is SAYCO that in turn facilitated the re-launching of the ANCYL after the unbanning in 1990; with it [ANCYL] re-launched in 1991 KwaNdebele College - in Siyabuswa. We always make examples of the mighty Cuba and how Fidel Castro guerrillas, who were very young but very determined after first trials and defeats ultimately, liberated Cuba in the late 50's ascending to power and therefore built a politically powerful country that has shown resilience and stoicism against the US imperialist machinations in the last 50 years. It is a revolution fortified on solid foundations of solidarity, one class and human dignity. In Venezuela, it was a combination of youth, in particular students, in concert with workers and the civic society organs in 1989 spontaneous uprising against neo liberal policies of that country which saw the rise of food prices, fuel, transport fees and privatisation of essential services imposed by the US puppet regime of Carlos Andres Perez influenced by IMF. That uprising, popularly known as *Caracazo* [ because it started in Caracass before it spread all over the country] saw scores and scores of people killed by police unleashed by Perez and it graduated into a political turmoil which created conditions for the 1992 coup led by Hugo Chavez. Venezuela today, is a Socialist country, and has achieved already a complete opposite quality of life than the one under Perez. It was the youth coordinated around student organisations in the late 90's that rioted, and created an untenable political situation adding to the World pressure in East Timor against Indonesian dictator, Suharto, to release Xanana Gusmao a fighter for the liberation of East Timor. His release in 1999 facilitated the referendum for East Timor to have her self determination. Gusmao became the President in an Indonesian free East Timor. Even the fall of Slobodan Milosevic in Yugoslavia who had degenerated to become a dictator and accused of war crimes and ethnic cleansing which ultimately saw him indicted to the International Criminal Court; the first to rebel against his rule, amongst others, was the youth. All methods therefore employed to generate intervention to his brutal rule was from this basis of youth and other societal sections. All of this drew interest to the World and multilateral institutions to intervene and the US under Bill Clinton and NATO consequently declared war in the removal of that government. More recently, the fight for the removal of Ben Ali regime in Tunisia was initiated by students [face book revolution] and it combusted like a wildfire with all the sectors of society joining in the push against the Ben Ali regime. The same can be said with Egypt, it was the then illegal Muslim Brotherhood youth, inspired by Tunisian popular uprising that took to Tahrir Square using social chat networks as mobilizing instruments. At the end through that courage, Egyptians took head on Hosni Mubarak till his demise. Looking closely at the entire Islamic uprising from Yemen to Syria, youth constitute the linchpin of these popular insurrections and the sustained durability of these uprisings to their logical conclusions. In South Africa, most recently, the ugly scenes in Ermelo (Mpumalanga) community protests for service delivery, in Free State where a 33 year old Andries Tatane, as a leader of protesters was shot, assaulted and killed by police - the youth has been at the forefront of these community reactions to shoddy service delivery. *What about leaders who led at tender age.* Again history tells that in various corners of the World young leaders have made an indelible mark in shaping social relations. Daniel Ortega was 34 years when in 1979, as a leader of Sandinista National Liberation Front [ *Frente Sandinista de Liberacion Nacional*] which, with other allies led a successful rebellion against a US puppet dictator in Nicaragua, Anastasio Somoza Debayle. Ortega was to later in 1985 became a President of Nicaragua although in 1990 there were taken out of power because of US interests in funding subversive groups and Para-military segments in Nicaragua. Amilcar Cabral, the leader of PAIGC in Cape Verde/ Gunea Bissau founded that revolutionary organisation and as its leader in 1956 at the age of 35. He was not just a leader but was a leading theoretician, a scholar of note and a revolutionary. PAIGC took power later although after his death. The youngest leader to become a head of state at a tender age of 33 was Thomas Sankara, the leader of Burkina Faso who took power in 1983, and is credited for instilling a national pride, self-reliant and a disclipline public service with women enjoying equal rights to men. All of these principles were anchored by his strong Marxist philosophical frame of mind. Many reforms he introduced at that time are reforms that Africa and in other parts of the World are still grappling to internalize. Jose Eduardo Dos Santos in Angola and a leader of MPLA became a leader of both the Party and the State after the death of Antonio Agostinho Neto in 1979 at an age of 37. He has held to these positions till to date. In South Africa, Moses Kotane, one of the key leaders of the alliance in exile, became a General Secretary of the Communist Party of South Africa at an age of 34, having been a key Politburo member and well known of having pushed for the Africanisation of the Communist Party [ the famous Cradock letter]. Steve Biko at 22 years became a founder of a student organisation SASO after unhappiness about the dominance in NUSAS of white students who were not putting enough emphasis and adequate context on black oppression. At the age of 25 with his comrades, he establish Black People's Convention (BPC). Jay Naidoo became a first General Secretary of the biggest federation in Africa, arguably the most influential and strong in the Southern Hemisphere, COSATU, in 1985, at an age of 31! What about Sydney Mafumadi, the former Minister Provincial and Local Government Department. At an age of 26 he was to become an Assistant General Secretary of COSATU, having led General and Workers Union [GAWU] at an even more tender age. There are many comrades, revolutionaries who have shown leadership and have led greater influential organisations that have changed, qualitatively, the cause of history in such tender age. The list is endless. *Is the current youth in politics an indictment to the former?* The youth in politics particularly those from the stable of the tripartite alliance and its allied student movement alike, have been characterized by those in the nay-says as so inured to invective politics, intolerant to their fellow interlocutors and so obtuse are these tendencies as a bugbear that the youth within the alliance is seen as having dejected their status as an organisation *in statu pupillari *of mother bodies. Even more recent, the poor vote to ANC from minorities in Local government elections, is to a certain degree, attributed to abrasiveness and what is seen as race talk mismanagement. I think, more often, the above assertion whilst possess some real concerns but it tend to be over inflated. In the overall, beyond personalities, on the positive side, the organization like the Young Communist League, for instance, resolved and therefore lobbied and canvassed the issue of youth (particularly grade 12 and graduates) to be absorbed in the military through Learnership *en masse *so that various skills and professions there are taken by them; injecting more manpower to our SANDF in its Regional and continental peace keeping missions. This was supported by the ANCYL and the Department is busy working on that as part of youth employment strategy, the issue of sanitary towels for the poor particularly young girls in schools has been accepted by government. The department of Women, children and People with Disability is seized with that responsibility. For the fact that the ANCYL had boldly raised the issue of nationalisation in this country which has been a taboo subject since Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as a first democratic president. This subject is dominating the discourse from all angles irrespective of one's perspective on the issue. Nationalisation discourse in South Africa, unlike before, is no more an esoteric subject for the collegial club of the lofty Left radicals. Even those who are so averse to the niceties of politics part of trying to make sense of this call from a pro and anti nationalisation stance. This is important for a country in the pedestal of self-quest. This is the task of the youth organization, to be militant (but guided) and full of vibrancy. *Conclusion* It is very much true that, as we celebrate 35 years of youth uprising of 1976, youth of today is far more different from the then youth. Objective conditions of that time that compelled the youth into heroic action have been overcame and this was symbolized by the 1994 democratic breakthrough. The post apartheid terrain, of cause, has itself plunged upon us new social challenges that the youth must grapple with. Such permutations, fluid as they are, have meant that the youth must always undergo an incessant political metamorphosis for it to be relevant, at all material times. In his address last year to the youth, comrade Joel Netshitenzhe [Youth are leaders of today, not just of tomorrow] closed by saying: *And so, my message is a simple one. South Africans stands at the cusp of decision. Whether we tip in the direction of faster progress depends to a large measure on whether we unlock the talent of nation's youth. To achieve this, we need to harness that cocktail of youth and ability that makes works of genius possible.* *It is in this context that I have to seek advice. And I do so, firmly in the conviction that you are South African leaders not just of tomorrow; but leaders of today in your own right!* Indeed young people cannot postpone their role and tasks in shaping the destiny of society and the country on the basis that their time is coming after they have achieve adulthood. Youth must shape the future in the now; this therefore summons the youth to disgorge leadership. There is no fixed age in life where full leadership acquisition is fully attained. Indeed youth are leaders of today and they got to be responsible today without any dereliction of duty on the pretext that the elders will take responsibility! *References:* 1. In the words of Nelson Mandela [ edited by Jennifer Crwys-Williams] 2. Mail and Guardian [edition, June 2010] 3. ANCYL: A Youthful 52 4. DVD on Venezuelan revolution. 5. Interview with Daniel Ortega [African Communist, 1992] *Khaye Nkwanyana is the Provincial Executive Committe of the SACP in KZN and is Former Deputy National Secretary of the Young Communist League.* -- Venceremos -- 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] .
