#YouthDay2020: We must reject an education system that promotes mediocrity over meritocracy
16 June 2020
Note to editors: The following remarks were made by Herman Mashaba, founder of the People’s Dialogue, at a virtual Youth Day event held today. The event served as a platform for a diverse group of young South Africans to give their inputs on a range of topics including gender-based violence, substance abuse and education. This is the first such engagement in a series of discussions with young South Africans that will take place in the coming weeks. These engagements will inform the development of the policies of the new political party to be launched by Herman Mashaba in August this year.
Good afternoon,
Sanibonani,
Dumelang,
Molweni,
Goeie middag,
Thobela,
Abusheni,
Fellow South Africans,
In 1976, I was a 16 year old young black man, growing up in Hammanskraal under a system that did not want me – or people who looked like me – to succeed in life.
The evil system of Apartheid set out to limit my opportunities in life by dictating where I could live, which schools I could attend, and whom I could associate with.
On the morning of June 16th, 1976, tens of thousands of students in Soweto sent a message that said, ‘enough is enough.’
They had been pushed to the brink by a system that did not only want to strip them of every opportunity, but strip them of their very identify, by dictating the language in which they were taught.
This is because the Apartheid government did not see us as individuals with hopes and aspirations, but as a commodity to be moulded so as to prepare us for a life as labourers.
Good quality education was seen as counter-productive to this goal. It was not in the interest of the Apartheid government to equip black South Africans with knowledge and intellect, because knowledge, as the old saying goes, is power.
Today we look back on the Soweto uprising as a watershed moment in the anti-Apartheid struggle.
The events of June 1976 demonstrated not only the extent to which the Apartheid government was willing to go to protect their system of oppression, but also the power of those who are united through injustice.
The message sent by those young people reverberated throughout South Africa, and indeed the world.
The courage of those young people and their ultimate sacrifice in the face of the brutality of the Apartheid government emboldened the liberation movement and set us on a path that resulted in the demise of that evil system.
As we commemorate Youth Day today, 44 years after the events of June 1976, it is important that we acknowledge that while the battle against Apartheid has been won, the battle for good quality education is still being fought by too many young South Africans 26 years into democracy.
The greatest tragedy of post-Apartheid South Africa is that our government has not delivered the more equal society those young people in 1976 were fighting for.
My fellow South Africans,
How can we talk about the born-free generation in 2020 when our young people are being in taught in classrooms without electricity, at schools without running water and sanitation, and by teachers held hostage by the unions?
On the 6th of December last year, I launched the People’s Dialogue as a platform to give ordinary South Africans an opportunity to have their voices heard about the greatest challenges facing our country, and how we can start to solve these problems.
Since the launch of the campaign we engaged millions of South Africans from all walks of life about what needs to be done to put our country on a path to prosperity once again.
It came as no surprise to me that the issue of education runs like a golden thread through almost all the submissions made by participants.
Whether in the context of equipping young people with the skills to be active participants in the economy, raising ethical and incorruptible leaders, or overcoming the legacy of racial inequality, improving access to good quality education for all South Africans is seen as a prerequisite for our country to make progress once again.
Last month, I announced that based on the inputs we received through the People’s Dialogue we will be launching a new political party in August this year.
This party will be based on the values of non-racialism, a free-market economy, social justice, the rule of law, and electoral reform.
As we commemorate Youth Day today, I would like to make a further pledge to all young South Africans: our party will focus on bringing about an education revolution in our country as a cornerstone of our plan to build a non-racial and just South Africa.
Without good quality education, our young people will never escape the shackles of the past.
Without good quality education, our young people will be free in name alone.
It was true in 1976 and it is true today. Knowledge is power: the power to challenge the status quo; the power to overcome; the power to succeed.
In the same way that the students of 1976 fought against an education system that aimed to mould them into nothing more than a subservient labour force, the students of today must reject an education system that promotes mediocrity above meritocracy.
They must reject anything less a world-class education system that places them on a trajectory to success having been equipped with the knowledge, skills and expertise to be competitive entrants to a growing labour market.
Ultimately, they must reject a government that seeks to condemn them to a trajectory which leaves them incapable of escaping the bounds of poverty and racial inequality. A government that leaves them feeling powerless and without hope.
My fellow South Africans,
No less than in 1976, our young people have a right to a government that empowers them instead of oppresses them.
As we commemorate Youth Month, I am calling on young South Africans to take back the power to shape their destiny and make their voices heard as we build a new political alternative that will put South African youth first.
Over the coming weeks we will be working to extend the core values on which our new party will be based into workable solutions and policies aimed at addressing our greatest challenges.
I would like to invite young South Africans that share my love of our country to step forward and help us craft these policies as we work to build a shared future for all our people.
Starting today, we will be hosting a series of virtual meetings with young South Africans to listen to your views on the issues that matter most to you – youth unemployment, education, substance abuse, gender inequality or gender-based violence, to name a few.
If my recent engagements with young South Africans have shown me anything, it is that the spirit of 1976 generation lives on in the young people of today.
What they may lack in years of experience, young South Africans make up for in a passion to see our country succeed.
I believe that with their inputs we can build a political alternative that will allow us to realise that success, restore hope, and put our young people first.
On that note, allow me to say that the event today is about you, the youth of South Africa, and your inputs to shape the future you want.
The floor is yours to articulate your envisaged future for our beloved country.
We are here to listen to you and will incorporate your inputs during our party’s policy formulation process.
I thank you.
Issued by The People’s Dialogue, 16 June 2020
