Prepared text of speech by Marius Redelinghuys, COPE Youth Movement Head of Communications. address at COPE YM West Rand Youth Day Commemoration, Maputle Primary School, Bekkersdal, Westonaria, June 16 2011

Today, 35 years ago, 20 000 people, many of them younger than most of us here, took to the streets of Soweto with one, simple, message: MY future is in MY hands.

In the South Africa of 1976 this was a radical message. In the South Africa of 1976 the ruling minority tightly controlled not only the daily lives of the people of this country, but it laid claim to their future, their destiny, as well. The ruling minority of 1976 dictated to all our people where they should live, where they should work, where they should eat, and who they were allowed to talk to, where, and when.

But above all, the ruling minority of 1976 tried with an iron fist to tightly control the future of the people of this country by dictating to them where they were allowed to study, what they were allowed to study, and in which language they had to study.

In short, the message sent by the ruling minority of the day was an insult to every freedom loving person in the world as they arrogantly and unashamedly proclaimed: YOUR future is in OUR hands!

It was on this fateful day 35 years ago that the young men and women of Soweto rejected the arrogance of that government. It was on this fateful day 35 years ago that thousands of people in Soweto decided to demonstrate that THEIR future, THEIR destiny, will NOT be determined and decided in the corridors of government departments in Pretoria.

Nothing ABOUT us, WITHOUT US.

In a society where an oppressive government watched every movement, scrutinised every action, and controlled every aspect of daily life, the young people of Soweto resoundingly rejected the attempts of that government to control their minds, their thoughts, and their future by dictating to them in a language that was foreign to them.

The logic behind this was simple: force young people to study in a language foreign to them, and eventually they will think in that language, they will see, describe and experience the world around them in that language, and the bond between mother and daughter, father and son, will be broken.

Thus, government would not only control the views and thoughts of this new generation, but also their future.

Therefore, the Soweto Uprising of June 16 1976 was not a simple rejection of the language of the oppressor, but it was a bold, courageous and defiant moment in our history when young people such as ourselves reclaimed their future and declared: OUR future is in OUR hands!

Today, 35 years after young South Africans like Hector Peterson sacrificed their lives to reclaim their future, OUR future as young people is STILL NOT in OUR hands! OUR South Africa does STILL not belong to ALL who live in it!

A small group of men and women lining the corridors of government departments in Pretoria still continue to dictate OUR future, OUR destiny to us.

A small group of men and women, the new ruling minority, a privileged few with access to power and political connections, continue to reap the benefits of the immense potential of this country.

On 16 June 1976 the world's eyes were fixed on South Africa, the young people had spoken, and through their cries for freedom they breathed a radical, a revolutionary, new life into the struggle for liberation.

BECAUSE of the sacrifices, the passion, and the defiance of young people such as ourselves, we were able to embark on a journey in 1994 that we hoped would eventually give real meaning to the call for a South Africa that belongs to all who live in it!

BECAUSE of the sacrifices, the passion and the defiance of young people such as ourselves we may openly speak of the noble concepts of Equality, of Freedom, and of Justice.

But DESPITE their sacrifices we are still forced to feed off the scraps of true Prosperity cast from the table of the ruling minority who insist that with hard work, dedication and love for our country we too may one day be privileged enough to eat at the table of South Africa's real potential.

Today, 35 years later, the youth of this country are insulted by the scraps cast from that table, scraps that take the form of a National ANCYL Employment Agency (commonly called the National Youth Development Agency) and a dysfunctional puppet ministry that claims to represent the interests of young South Africans.

Thirty five years later South Africans have replaced one ruling minority with a select few men and women who, like parasites, suck the life out of our country and its potential by building personal palaces in Nkandla and in Ngquza Hill, and they throw lavish parties that effectively rob us, the youth, of R100 million.

Today, as those born in 1976 and before no longer carry the aspirations and dreams of the youth, that responsibility falls upon you and me, upon all of us born in the dying days of Apartheid and those who we call "born-free".

We are endowed with the responsibility, the duty, to keep alive that Dream of '76. OUR future is in OUR hands.

The Dream of '76 teaches us NEVER to be satisfied with the scraps cast from the table of the ruling elite.

The Dream of '76 teaches us NEVER to believe that some are more equal than others. It demands of us to continue our struggle, as young, vibrant, passionate citizens of this South Africa, for true equality, real freedom, and tangible prosperity for all South Africans!

As young people WE are the torchbearers of Hope. We are the footsoldiers of Change. OUR future is in OUR hands. The future of THIS organisation, of THIS Congress of the People, is in OUR hands. But above all, the future of OUR South Africa is in our hands!

We are the custodians of this Dream of '76, and like little grains of sand blown up by the Winds of Change we must tirelessly, and together, erode every single rock, every obstacle, that stands in the way of true equality, real freedom, and meaningful prosperity for all young people and for every South African!

Thina sonke! Together, all of us! OUR future is in OUR hands!

Issued by COPE YM, June 16 2011

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