Address by SACP General Secretary, Comrade Blade Nzimande to the YCLSA Youth Month Rally, Phaahla Stadium, Siyabuswa, Mpumalanga Province, Sunday, 22 June 2014
Honouring the Youth of 1976: Arm yourself to build a better South Africa
ANC Deputy Secretary-General Comrade Jessie Duarte, Mpumalanga Secretary Comrade Lucky Ndinisa, all ANC leaders present;
YCLSA National Secretary Comrade Buti Manamela and all YCLSA leaders present;
SACP Mpumalanga Provincial Secretary Comrade Bonakele Majuba, Chairperson Comrade Erick Kholoane and all Party leaders present;
COSATU Mpumalanga Provincial Secretary Comrade Fidel Mlombo and all COSATU Leaders present;
Leaders from all formations of the Progressive Youth Alliance present;
Dear Comrades, let me convey our revolutionary greetings from the Central Committee of the Communist Party.
1. What is the significance of June 16th, 1976 today?
June 16th, 1976 was a result of a confluence of a number of factors, amongst others:
Unprecedented economic growth in the 1960s, compelling the apartheid regime to extend education, but poor education, to black, semi-skilled workforce and Bantustan functionaries in the backdrop of the policy of Bantustans;
Increasing numbers of blacks in the secondary schooling system;
The 1973 workers' strikes, signalling that the apartheid regime was not unchallengeable, and this in the aftermath of the notorious Rivonia trial;
Imposition of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction;
Imposition of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction, highlighting the growing arrogance of the apartheid regime.
I remember this vividly as a first year student at University of Zululand where I was involved in taking the struggle forward in that period.
The 1976 youth and student uprisings changed the course of our struggle for good. Together with the workers' struggles of the 1970s, this laid the foundation for semi-insurrectionary mass struggle of the 1980s, forming part of the conditions that led to the negotiations in the 1990s. It is important for the Young Communist League and the youth in general to study this history of interacting student, youth and workers struggles and its relevance today and tomorrow.
2. Some lessons from the 1976 student and youth generation
It is important to organise youth politically, especially from the ranks of the working class. But the youth cannot be successfully organised, unless they are educated politically. The Young Communist League must appreciate the importance of these twin tasks and streamline them in its programme, strategy and tactics. The Young Communist League together with its fraternal organisations in, must also build, the Progressive Youth Alliance and develop it to be a leading force of young people in our country.
There is this myth that the young people in South Africa have no interest in politics. This cannot be true. As a recent study shows (Youth Development Index, 2013), the South African youth are the fourth most politically active in the world. But we must not take this for granted. We must continue to organise the youth politically and unapologetically. Should we not do this, especially the Young Communist League, there are some who have stolen our identities and who have become the forces of darkness, during which ailing as they are might thrive in confusing the youth.
But the youth must not just lament. The Young Communist League must instil progressive and revolutionary content and spirit in its task of mobilising the youth politically. The youth must take part in making South Africa a better place.
We must continue the struggle fought by the 1976 student and youth generation. This must include developing and using African languages academically, and combating distortions that can only contribute in liquidating these languages (which is what the apartheid regime sought to achieve). We must focus on relevant education, and therefore the transformation of curriculum, especially the content of learning and teaching.
This must challenge the dominance of neo-liberalism in our curriculum, especially, but not exclusively, at college and university levels. It is this neoliberal content of education that teaches students the market is the panacea to the problems facing human society, which is not true. On the contrary, it is because of the market that society is vulnerable to endemic economic crisis, inequality, unemployment and poverty.
3. Challenges and tasks facing the youth
In our country, 42% of the total population is under the age of 35 with the average age of 25. The youth is the most affected by the triple challenges of inequality, unemployment and poverty. Youth unemployment id double that of people over the age of 35.
What must we do?
We must at least focus on education, among others, making use of all opportunities opened up by the ANC-led alliance and government:
80% of our schools are now no-fee paying schools, and with learners in these and other schools receiving a meal a day, there is just no reason why young people must not attend or must drop out of school (particularly this is very important for learners from poor households);
The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) in Further (Vocational) Education and Training colleges increased from R318 million in 2010 to approximately R2 billion last year, increasing coverage from just over 61 000 to over 222 000 (By the way, NSFAS did not cover these colleges before);
At university level, NSFAS funding increased from R2.2 billion in 2010 to over R3.5 billion last year, increasing coverage from just over 148 thousand to 210 000. NSFAS now covers all costs for students in their final year of study.
In critical cases, the NSFAS also covers full costs for needy students in scarce skills areas, including transport, food and accommodation.
In fact, the ANC-led government increased NSFAS funding from just over R3 billion to R9.6 billion presently (The demagogues who do not understand anything about state revenue simplistically said if they were elected they would double this amount. They said this because they know there was no way they could be elected into government and that they will not be elected into government, and therefore that they have no responsibility to take care of).
The Young Communist League must take up campaigning on vocational education and training and pursue struggles for increased intakes of learnerships, internships, experiential training and apprenticeships across the economy. These work-based training opportunities are critical for students to complete their qualifications and also gain initial work experience.
There is no reason why the government at all spheres, including municipalities, as well as State Owned Enterprises and parastatals cannot open the workplace as a training space. The youth must drive the decade of the artisan, 2014-2014, to address skills shortage and open work opportunities.
There is one thing the Communist Party cannot complete its message here today and at every platform without dealing with, that is labour brokering. The youth must fight against labour brokers and ensure that they are totally banned in our economy.
The youth must also participate government infrastructure programmes and strive to seize the opportunities that these offer in terms of, but not limited to, skills development, employment and co-operatives development.
In the last five years we have made tremendous progress in fighting HIV and AIDS and TB. The Young Communist League must mobilise the youth in deepening the advancements achieved in this programme, and therefore in expanding progress.
This must include driving the implementation of the National Health Insurance and leading a responsible sexual conduct to reduce and ultimately bring to an end the rate of transmissions of sexually transmitted infections and diseases. Let us not leave these campaigns to NGOers who see these diseases as opportunities to raise money than to address them genuinely.
Let me conclude by congratulating the Young Communist League for the growth it has achieved and becoming a respectable component of the Progressive Youth Alliance. Let the Young Communist League teach young people Marxism-Leninism.
To the youth in general we say: Don't be fooled by demagogues!
The demagogues say a little of no substance but say it very loud and polarising, thinking that they are making sense whereas in fact they are just saying a lot of nothing.
Thank you so much!
Issued by the SACP, June 22 2014
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