GOOD speech by Brett Herron,
GOOD: Secretary-General & Member of Parliament
15 June 2022
Note: This is the speech that was delivered by GOOD Secretary-General and Member of Parliament, Brett Herron, during today’s debate on Youth Day.
Twenty-eight years ago, on the first Youth Day commemorated in the newly democratic South Africa, then-President Nelson Mandela announced the establishment of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund.
A year later, at the launch of the Fund, he uttered the famous line, that there could be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treated its children.
“The vision of a new society that guides us should already be manifest in the steps we take to address the wrong done to our youth and to prepare for their future. Our actions and policies, and the institutions we create, should be eloquent with care, respect and love,” he said.
When we commemorate Youth Day tomorrow we are duty-bound to acknowledge our failings in living up to that standard. But even more important are the hard questions we must ask looking forward: What are we going to do better?
In 1976, South Africa’s youth demonstrated they had agency; they recognised the wrongfulness of their society, and had the power to effect change.
Today’s youth has no less agency. They have no less consciousness. Instead of being ground down by apartheid, they are kept down by a rank education system, unemployment and poverty.
Job creation was the focus of President Ramaphosa’s SONA this year, but the situation remains dire. The rate of unemployment fell by one percentage point in the last quarter, but a 34% unemployment rate is not a number to be celebrated. It is acknowledgement of a crisis.
The cycle of poverty is unstoppable if people don’t have access to any income. It is naïve toi expect our youth to excel on empty stomachs.
There is plenty scope for job creation in the areas of refurbishment, restoration and recovery from our long-term economic slump. We need the skills to exploit these opportunities.
We need to work to engineer an employment domino effect. By fixing public infrastructure, refurbishing our cities and fulfilling our promise to house our citizens in dignified environments we begin the knock-on effect of job creation.
When we are seen to be succeeding others, including investors, will notice.
We celebrate Youth Day to commemorate the bravery of the youth of our past, but also to steel our resolve to develop a sustainable and modern society for young people tomorrow.
As a society we have a duty to the youth to protect and nurture them. And all of us, including youth, have a duty to fix our country… to contribute to developing a fairer, more hopeful and more compassionate soul.
Media enquiries:
Brett Herron, GOOD: Secretary-General & Member of Parliament
Cell: 0825183264
Email: bretth@forgood.org.za
Janke Tolmay, GOOD: Media Manager
Cell: 0733671223
Email: janke@forgood.org.za