Today signals the start of Youth Month where the most vulnerable members of our society are celebrated as the future of South Africa.
June 16 1976 will forever live on as a day of tragedy for the youth of South Africa. Thousands of students, peacefully protesting the compulsory inclusion of Afrikaans as a medium of tuition in their schools, were met by armed police who fired teargas and live ammunition into the crowd.
The image of a fatally wounded Hector Pieterson being carried by Mbuyisa Makhubo, with his sister Antoinette Sithole running alongside, tells a story of terror at the hands of police brutality and stands as a reminder of the uprising that began on that fateful day.
Forty-six years later we celebrate the youth of our democracy, remembering the tragedy but looking forward with hope, to a bright and full future for this challenged demographic sector.
This year’s theme “The Year of Charlotte Mannya Maxeke: Growing youth employment for an inclusive and transformed society” speaks to the biggest crisis facing the youth – that of opportunities in the workplace.
It’s one of the drivers and initiatives of the National Youth Development Agency and ImpactSA spoke to Executive Chairperson Asanda Luwaca.
