Tembisa’s treasure is its youth

As Youth Month comes to an end a number of topics and events, which unpacked the issues of SA’s youth, came into the spotlight.

It seems the only time we passionately discuss issues is at events or in the month of something. However, youth empowerment must be at the top of the agenda for all of us every day of the year. My reflections on the month of June have been rather difficult.

Remembering the role played by young people under the theme, The Year of OR Tambo: Advancing Youth Economic Empowerment, left me with this question: does the future of the South African youth look better than that of the previous generation?

The classic answer would be that the future looks rather bleak and I would go on to paint the picture with statistics that six out of ten South Africans are young people and according to the latest youth profile by StatsSA, 30 per cent unemployed.

Young people face economic exclusion, inequality and limited access to education.

All of this, combined with HIV/AIDS, substance abuse, high levels of violence and crime paint an unpromising picture. However, after reading ‘Sink your teeth into Thabo’s tripe’, published on June 16, in the Tembisan, my outlook on the youth of this country changed.

I realised there are many young people out there who are empowering themselves against all odds.

The likes of Thabo Mbiza, a self-employed 21-year-old street vendor who sells mala le mogodu are pushing to get themselves into the mainstream economy despite circumstances which threaten to limit them.

Like Mbiza, I grew up in Tembisa and I saw myself as a young woman with potential but few opportunities.

Therefore, I worked hard and with dedication to arm myself with an education.

I attended Tembisa High School and matriculated with two distinctions and an average of 85 per cent.

Throughout my school career, I was very active and engaged with people in my community.

In Grade 11 I was adopted by the Dreamgirls International Outreach and Mentoring Programme that aims to promote the enrolment and success of young women in institutions of higher education.

The programme empowers teenage girls from disadvantaged backgrounds with role models and mentors.

The programme inspired me to dream big and believe that it was possible for me to study further in any institution of higher learning after matric.

This programme gave me and others the tools to access information on higher education and opportunities after school. Their guidance and mentorship saw to it that we all received funding to go to university.

It is, for this reason, that I voyaged to the Western Cape to pursue a BA International Studies at Stellenbosch University and it is programmes such as these that evoked my social consciousness and passion to change my community for the better.

I understand that not all of us will get the opportunity to study further in institutions of higher learning and our realities do not fit the ideal “born free” radical economic transformation picture.

We also have to understand that we are in a ticking bomb unless we start to create our own jobs and uplift our community through our own abilities and skills.

As young people in Tembisa, we need to engage actively in programmes such as the Dreamgirls International Outreach and Mentoring Programme which will empower us to realise our aspirations.

We need more initiatives that will focus on youth skills development and career guidance. Entrepreneurship must be the central part of every young person’s formal or informal education.

Entrepreneurship will not only ensure that young people are able to generate their own income and prevent crime but it will also ensure that they launch larger ventures that will create more jobs.

There is also a need for health awareness to equip us to shape not only our own future but also that of our community. Empowering young people with opportunities will ensure better living standards and ignite our country’s economy.

I have concluded that Tembisa’s treasure is its young people.

We need to unlock the infinite potential of this treasure through empowerment, education and employment in order for us to have a better society.