Youth Day: Remembering the Past, Demanding a Future

I once sat in on a meeting where an international expert questioned why Human Rights Day was front-page news. On Human Rights Day. I know. The silence in the room was thick, our eyes all saying what we didn’t: Google it if you’re that clueless. No editor familiar with South Africa’s history would dare ask such a question.

I’m not against bringing in outside expertise - when done respectfully and with context. But there’s a fine line between offering fresh perspective and dismissing deeply rooted national trauma.

I bring this up because June is Youth Month, and June 16th, in particular, carries a weight that cannot be overstated. This is not just another date on the calendar. It's a time to reflect, to honor the youth who laid down their lives in 1976, and to confront the harsh realities that today’s youth continue to face.

We are a nation in crisis.

Youth unemployment is at an all-time high. The cost of basic living; transport, electricity, food has soared above inflation. For many, higher education remains out of reach, not because of a lack of ambition or potential, but because of systemic inequality. This is not the future our youth were promised.

Our children are born into a democratic South Africa, often unaware of the bloodshed and bravery that secured the freedoms they now inherit. At the same time, they are growing up in homes and communities scarred by drug abuse, domestic violence, and poverty - issues that threaten their futures.

As we attempt to figure out a path forward, we must remember why our fallen heroes marched, protested, and risked everything. The “why” has never been more important. Their fight wasn’t just about language policy or the school system, it was about dignity, equality, and a future worth living in.

If we forget that, if we allow Youth Day to become symbolic without substance, we are doing a disservice not only to the past but to the present.

We owe it to our young people to educate them, to ensure that history is not whitewashed or watered down. Enjoying the fruits of democracy should never come at the cost of forgetting the sacrifices made for it.

Let June be more than commemoration. Let it be a call to action.