What if we shifted our focus from redress to address? What if we started building towards a future without limitations of the past? What if… just what if South Africans were allowed to dream without looking back at apartheid years.
South Africa is at a critical point where we need to look past the injustice of the past and consider the possible injustice suffered today. We encourage young people to dream, yet we do not provide an atmosphere where they can bring their dreams into reality.
I see no point in emphasising the need to empower more black people, instead of saying ‘let us empower every South African’.
Before addressing the issue of opportunities offered to ‘our’ youth, we need to abandon the race factor. As a young man, I see no point in emphasising the need to empower more black people, instead of saying ‘let us empower every South African’.
What if we were to consider the fact that the past happened, we cannot undo what has been done – We can only look to build a future from where we find ourselves.
The reality of today is that babies of 1994 are hoping to get into the job market today – They have no reference of what the Apartheid era meant.
Before assuming that I am against redress, that is not the case – my view is that South Africa needed to focus on redress in the first 20 years. The reality of today is that babies of 1994 are hoping to get into the job market today – They have no reference of what the Apartheid era meant. Although they can be taught, it will be nothing more than a history lesson.
We understand the past was painful, we have a sense of empathy for those who had to endure it; however, our concern is the future which cannot be built out of the need to heal but the desire to thrive in an inclusive South Africa.
My dream is not to see black people get first preference over my white colleagues, I want all of us to believe we can have a future in South Africa. Ironically, although the emphasis has always been on empowering young black people, they are those mostly failed.
My dream is not to see black people get first preference over my white colleagues, I want all of us to believe we can have a future in South Africa.
Black people are failed by political interests. For the past 20 years we have been told a ‘good story’ of opportunities; however, this story was nothing more than a fairy tale. The hub of South Africa’s economy, Gauteng, has the highest unemployment in the country simply because political interests are high on the agenda.
Let us get rid of politics in government and start ‘working together to move South Africa forward’.
President Zuma has to instil hope and confidence when he delivers his State of the Nation Address tonight. Unlike before elections, a ‘good story’ will not carry weight. The ANC itself promised what they call ‘radical transformation’; the only question is what is meant by this optimistic promise.
Action to build a South Africa we all want to live in needs to start today – young people need to be given an opportunity to live out their dreams; let us get rid of politics in government and start ‘working together to move South Africa forward’.
Also read the following articles:
Black on White: The race card – again
Don’t ‘black-out’ the future of SA
