Samke Mnguni
As we reach the end of Youth Month, several reflections have been made on the journey South Africa’s young people have embarked on in the past 30 years and how they define our constitutional democracy and are building for the future.
Young people are a dominant age group in South Africa’s population of 62 million. While they are often regarded as outspoken and leading the way when it comes to developments such as innovation in technology, education equality and changing communities’ lives, according to Statistics South Africa, they remain the most unemployed and disenfranchised.
As South Africa enters its seventh administration, many young people are watching the Government of National Unity (GNU) from the sidelines to see what it means for their future and how the decisions of the new administration will affect them. Although several initiatives and social impacts have been aimed at the youth in the past three decades, little has changed.
For the first 15 years of democracy, South Africa benefited from effective institutions and a shared willingness among stakeholders to co-operate. The co-operation allowed the country to move beyond counter-productive conflict and pursue win-win outcomes.
Economic growth accelerated, expanding opportunities for the middle class, and an increased fiscal space enabled broader access to public services and social grants. However, gains for the poorest did little to alter their brutal economic and social realities, leaving many feeling that the system remained stacked against them.
Persistent inequality and political vulnerability leave young people the most exposed to economic stagnation. The GNU should learn from the early phases of our democracy and pursue a strong political settlement, not built on sub-bargains but reducing state fragility.
In his 2022 State of the Nation address, President Cyril Ramaphosa spoke about a social compact that called on all stakeholders, including the community, labour, the government and business, to participate.
Four years later, we need to review whether the call for co-operation among multiple state actors, including civil society, has been adequately responded to. We must ask ourselves what progress has been made and why we are regressing when making notable pathways, particularly for our youth.
South Africa is blessed with various stakeholders in the public and private sectors, with some of them putting in the hard work to prioritise young people, while others have been sleeping on the job, to put it mildly. There is a lot of work to be done, and this cannot lie squarely in the hands of civil society organisations (CSOs). While they work harder to turn the wheel, there are imbalanced policies that are not implemented in a country the World Bank regards as the most unequal in the world, where the dreams of young people are continuously shattered.
The government, businesses, CSOs, citizens and youth empowerment stakeholders need to rally together and start a critical conversation, one centred on the next steps and what kind of a legacy we must all start working on as we aim to turn the wheel for the better and rid our youth of the despondency that engulfs them.
We have had national dialogues; we need to self-introspect why these have not largely produced results and how we can correct this mishap. We know and have always known that only some young people can be formally employed, yet we continue to fail to encourage the spirit of entrepreneurship among young people.
They must be encouraged and assisted, as entrepreneurship lies in a world of opportunity. Areas such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem) and the digital economy offer countless opportunities for budding small business owners. Various experts are discussing the potential for African youth to become the global labour force, as Africa is the youngest continent while other countries continue to face ageing populations.
The question is: What plans does the GNU have to optimise the strategic advantage or will it wait to hear from the West about the direction young people should take regarding their advancement?
Young people know what’s best for them. Decisions cannot be made without their involvement; hence, when a door is opened, young people know how to create more employment opportunities for their peers.
At the end of the day, it’s all about creating equal economic opportunities and ensuring there is participation. We need the government and the private sector to leverage our youth dividend intentionally. Once we do that, we will start to see positive green shoots, showcasing a better future for our youth and our nation.
Mnguni is the programme manager for youth empowerment and development at the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund