Ekta Somera of Umkomaas recently wrote a poem based on the latest statistics around youth unemployment in South Africa. This is a personal and creative response to a crisis that affects millions of young people, and one she engages with directly through her work:
Disconnected voices
Echo across the country –
“young people sit
With their arms folded
Waiting for opportunities
To fall into their laps” –
The stolen blindfolds
From lady justice hides
Our bruised knuckles
From knocking on doors
That never seem to open –
Her scales balance
The weight of corruption –
Like the qualification of nepotism
As the unwritten requirement
In every job description –
In justice –
Our talent and abilities
Are no longer necessary
For we are the generation
Of educated minds
With certificates to decorate
The deteriorating system
That keeps failing us
– Ekta Somera
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