Who cares? Politics, elections and SA's young generation

Who cares? Politics, elections and SA’s young generation

First and foremost, all of us who have an affinity and even the most minimalistic sense of pride in being citizens of this potentially great country should care even about the most basic happenings in it. The fact that one was born in this country makes them susceptible to the anger, sadness or at least concern that creeps up whenever anyone speaks ill of it.

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The fact that one engages in debates ,arguments or merely complains either to others or oneself, demonstrates only one thing, and that is every single one of  us cares about where we come from, are currently at and especially, where we are going.

 A prime example is when I was covering the UJ SRC elections for the student newspaper, I randomly stopped a student and asked her who she wished could win the elections, she retorted that student politics was not an area of her concern, and that she was there to study, and obtain her degree, when I preceded to ask what she would do if one day she came to campus and found that lectures had been dismissed and no notices had been put up to give reason and the duration. She replied ‘I would probably go to the SRC offices and enquire’. And just like that, the fact that she even knew where to find the SRC offices and that she knew that it was a place at which she could maybe find the answers to her questions, demonstrated that she indeed cared.

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South African politics is so eventful that one cannot help but be political, even if it is subliminal. The 2009 voter turnout only decreased by 7% when compared to that of 1994. This is testament of the fact that politics permeates the daily thoughts of every day South Africans more than they even care to admit.

In a country with a youth unemployment percentage of 48.2 according to the World Bank economic indicators, there is a pressing need to appeal to a youth that is self-destructive and behaves as if it is owed a great deal of gratitude for just existing.

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The run up to the 2014 general elections will demonstrate innovation and tact on the part of the party that will be able to attract a youth which does not demonstrate unity, fervour and decisiveness that was apparent in the youth of 1976. Just as Vavi was fond of saying “you never win at the negotiating table what you’ve never won on the street”. This simply points to the fact the far from having expectations, South Africans, the youth especially should realise that the way things will eventually turn out in this country is directly attributable to them.

The condemnation of our education has been loud from all quarters of society; this however, has lent credence to the necessity to wait for things to change instead of effecting change, on the part of the South Africa’s young generation.

Political analyst, Prof, Steven Freidman argues that ‘…the bulk of people share their values with the previous generation,". The fact is that although all of us are concerned about the present state of the country, it can only worsen if piling up an arsenal of excuses to explain why they aren't succeeding is the only thing that the youth is proficient in doing.

The varsity experience: prepare for rejection, or not

Varsity is hard enough as it is, what, with the constant worrying over the price of tuition, accommodation, printing as well as jostling for attention in lecture halls teeming with thousands of students eagerly seeking to make an impression and hopefully forge a reputation with the lecturers and the department. Now I should fist mention that although the above mentioned are a task and a half to accomplish, they pale in comparison to striking up a meaningful romantic relationship with girls in varsity. I should further mention that these observations are based on the point of view of a guy and therefore speak about the plight of guys trying to find the “one” in varsity. Life as a guy in varsity involves either shedding your dorky high school image or solidifying an already successful image. Now as far as the varsity girl’s taste goes (information gathered from countless fact finding missions on campus with the opposite sex), there are 3 types of guys they would either hunt down, wishfully  drop hints at or settle for (believe me they will a come a time when the third description will not bother you at all). First you have:

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1.      The car driving, designer clothes wearing, self- confessed cheese boy, and then there;

2.      The latest gadget carrying and trend following swagger boy” ;

3.      The bursary sponsored/working go-getter.

Here’s the thing, see varsity girls are primarily drawn to providers of weekend clubbing escapades, libation and snack filled chill sessions at res and weekday lunch sponsors (generalisation)-don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that varsity girls are gold diggers, but merely that they aren’t  fans of regularly buying their own lunches and personally funding their nights out. So with all of that said I freely and passionately advice matriculants to not even think of letting go of their high school sweethearts because of tales of how hot varsity girls are, I tell you, you will be bitterly disappointed.

 

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Now, in an attempt not to be misunderstood, I should state the obvious, and that is University is an institute of higher learning and therefore a place where those who don’t have the stamina to make it as the employee of the month at a workplace whose criterion for achieving such includes among another things; frequently stays the longest in the sun, and productive at wielding a pick when jack hammers aren’t available for everyone. So, no I do realise that the chief reason why we go to university is to study and hopefully make connections that will ensure that our future becomes a success.

But with that said, you would be grossly in denial if you even for a minute thought that making acquaintances with the opposite sex does not result in a pleasant means of passing time that the proverbial three to five years at varsity normally takes. Mind you, many a couple found each other during those days of promiscuity or celibacy (which is more often than not, not by choice). One thing that is for sure,(according to me at least) when those facts ,figures and theories of this and that are too much to comprehend, interpersonal  chit-chat that has nothing to do with revisiting the assertions of the social exchange theory, will prove more fulfilling than a consultation with your lecturer.

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Someone almost always has it harder than you

I sometimes look at the multitudes of young people complaining about everything that is wrong with their current state, and how that is directly attributable to anyone else but them. Now firstly let me just say that I’m definitely not the preachy type, so don’t think this will be a tirade about how inept and lazy today’s youth is because I assure you, they certainly are not.



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When I matriculated, I, like a lot of people had no solid plan and I was full of lofty dreams about how things would just sort themselves out. I wouldn’t say that I was waiting for an immaculately dressed man/women to burst open the door of the backroom I was renting and give me a serious and knowing look and then say ‘ hey you right there, you look like the hard working type, but I can tell that circumstances have blocked your way from day one’ and just like that the man/women would then proceed to give me an address to a nice cushy job  and tell me to come in that ‘following Monday’, no but I certainly had that sense of pity and entitlement  about me, as if the world owed me something and the problems of everyone around me paled in comparison to my mind numbing and ‘arg shame’ inducing trials and tribulations.

I lost my parents at age 14 and subsequently lived out that year and the following year alone. I then moved to Soweto to go live with my grandmother who couldn’t help herself and reminded us every week how much of a burden me and my two younger siblings were to her and that one mistake she’d send us packing back to KwaZulu-Natal from whence we came. That is the main reason why less than a week after the matric exams ended I left home and have been on my own ever since.

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 I had always intended to further my studies in varsity, and one of the main reasons why in I never set foot on the grounds of any university in the two years after matriculating, was that I knew that no matter what, they would somehow want some documents, an affidavit or something from my grandmother, and that meant going back to her place.

I fell in the trap of always being able to explain why I was nineteen and not in school. I quickly found that no matter how judgemental someone was, the response ‘my parents died years ago and I’m here in Joburg fending for myself, I’m all on my own’ was enough to quieten them up and illicit an ‘aahh shame poor thing stare’ from them.

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My desperation landed me in the company of individuals who were angry at everything and anyone all the time. Suddenly, the once unthinkable act of turning to crime was growing to be a reality day by day. I quickly found out that ‘izinyokanyoka’ (cable thieves) were not a bunch of undefinable societal menaces from god knows where, but that they could include me.

A chance meeting of a much older guy who like me, liked reading and would regale me with stories of his exploits in the then University of Natal, Finally made me realise that I should at all costs try my best to get an education. As soon as I got my attitude right, I knew that I had to do whatever I could to get out of the rut I was in.

 As I stood in a registration queue at the University of Johannesburg; a year later. It dawned on me that there was nothing special about my circumstances, and that there were literally thousands of young people who were taking initiative and getting themselves out of the varying situations of difficulty that they found themselves in, and like me they realised that education was the way to do it.