Success Reloaded with Hlengiwe

On September 10 this year, my hopes for a better South Africa were revived as I sat inside the Great Hall at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. This happened when Mr Cyril Ramaphosa, in his capacity as deputy chairman of the National Planning Commission(NPC), a department in the presidency, unpacked the National Development Plan (NDP) Vision 2030.

He raised a lot of topical issues that I felt were speaking to me and every young citizen of this country. These were issues of literacy, economic development, rural development, the integration of social and economic policy, redistribution, foreign investment, skills development and so forth.

I salute the way in which he made such a hectic policy document sound so comprehensive. The sad part though is that some of the key points were not properly grasped by many of the youths seated at the back.

Do you know why? Because of their failure to speak out and claim what is rightfully theirs. A group of so-called “miners” disrupted his speech with howls and singing, displaying Marikana placards.

No one in the country does not know of the Marikana issues, but a sane person would know that an NDP session was definitely not a Marikana platform.

Sometime this year, American president, Mr Barrack Obama visited South Africa, but even before landing on our soil, petitions and memos opposing his visit were circulating. This unnecessary confusion that was created destructed the attention of innocent young South Africans who could have instead paid attention to listen to what Mr Obama was bringing to South African youth.

If I can conduct a survey among youths to check whether they understood what he delivered in his speech, I would not be surprised that many boycotted or they are just the type that does not listen to president’s speeches and yet, they want economic emancipation. Others were busy criticizing the policy on twitter, even before seeing it. Where is the sense in that?

The gist of my argument today is that, many of our youth still find themselves at a disadvantage because platforms that are created for them end up being manipulated by selfish people. We cannot allow people who either missed opportunities or did not have them due to the imbalances of the past, to contaminate our minds and steal our time and opportunities.

This piece is a mind opener to young people, if they do not open their eyes and use their own brains to think, others will think for them and advance their agendas at their expense. One author said, “If you do not work hard to realize your own dreams, people will hire you to work towards theirs.”

My version is, if young people do not seize their rightful opportunities, opportunists will steal their platforms to advance themselves.

Ever heard of a friend who was advised by friends to leave her husband and soon as she leaves, one of the friends took over? If you do not stand your ground and pay attention, development will bypass you.

Do not forget that Fridays are National Freedom Fridays as of September 20, 2012- December 2014.