Following in the footsteps of earlier generations of revolutionary youth, young people within the democratic movement should be at the forefront of defending the gains of the revolution and accelerating development, writes Malibongwe Kanjana.
An entry point to this contribution will be an approach that will not necessary be academic or scientific, but rather an immediate response to the socio-economic and political realities faced by our youth. Though a generalisation, this contribution is meant to further inspire constructive debate towards a secure future for our country, Africa and the world.
The youth stage is not a time in life but a state of mind. Youth are better positioned than any other social stratum to be entrusted with, and be prepared for, the responsibilities of the future. Former ANC President, the late Oliver Tambo, said: 'Any nation that does not value its youth, does not have a future.' It is the nation that makes a good investment in its youth that can expect positive returns - we've learned that 'a pain now is a payment in future'.
To have arrived at this hour in our revolution, supreme sacrifices were made during every phase of our struggle. We won and lost battles, and inspired and empowered generations. Despite the deadly tricks of the enemies of our revolution, the voice of our leaders kept reaching the ears of the masses.
The courage of heroes and heroines kept the revolutionary spirit alive in the hearts of millions of our people.
From the early wars of resistance, youth fearlessly swelled the ranks of the armies of our people, under the leadership of Bambatha, Moshoeshoe, Hintsa and many leaders of our people. It was through the courage of this youth that the leaders of our people knew that they were engaged in a cause bound to succeed. It was as a result of those young soldiers who fearlessly engaged and triumphed over the enemy in the battle of Isandlwana and on many fronts that the wheels of revolution began to gather pace.
Young but brave, the youth are not to be forgotten in their swift response to the call of mobilising and organising our people. It is in the spirit of selflessness that the young citizens of mortality demonstrated, and fully committed their time and energy to the work of building the people's organisation, without any material expectation.
It is in the courage of youth that when weaknesses surfaced in the ANC, walking away was not a choice. Instead they confronted those weaknesses and combated their negative impact. The strength of the voice of youth ensured drastic but positive change in the ANC and gave birth to a new era. It was in this era of the 1940s that the ANC regained lost ground through the Programme of Action of 1949. This gave meaning to the progression of the struggle, building up to the drafting and adoption of the Freedom Charter and beyond.
When the enemy sought to silence the people's voice and our movement was confronted with the choice to 'submit or fight', the glorious movement of our people rose to the occasion as it chose to fight on. This decision proved to be challenging and demanded the employment of new strategies. In this era our movement was again not to be disappointed by the youth. Young people all over the country left the comfort of their homes and chose to be citizens of the bush in foreign countries. In their numbers they significantly contributed in all pillars, phases and fronts of our struggle under the ever-capable leadership of the ANC.
In the 1970s young people took it upon themselves to raise the flame of our revolution. It was in the blaze of this flame that our people's hope was renewed. The knock of victory at the doors of our movement was even louder.
The 1980s saw the emergence of an even more militant generation of youth, who without delay or hesitation responded to the call of our movement to render the country ungovernable. Their commitment was evident in the slogan, 'Freedom or death victory is certain'. In the face of the impatient character of the youth, apartheid regime wavered. Thus the 1990s came into being. Young people always occupied the centre stage of our revolution; their involvement is evident in all phases of our liberation struggle.
Beyond unbanning The youth occupy the centre of a terrain that is highly contested; their vigorous energy and enthusiastic nature expose the beauty of their colorful time in life. Their very age in life and state of mind attract a lot of interest for long-term investment of either a positive or negative nature.
The ANC belongs to the family of revolutionaries and progressives whose agenda is to create and advance a people-driven, just and equitable world order, underpinned by unity, democracy, non-racialism, non-sexism and prosperity.
On the other side, the anti-revolutionary forces engage in programmes which seek to undermine and destroy the people's agenda for change and equality.
It is in the interest of these forces of doom that the young citizens of life are confused at their tender age, as this will allow counter-revolutionary programmes to progress without contestation. It is in the voice of these forces that we hear that the youth are marginalised.
Failing in this tune they then tell us of youth apathy. These are all efforts to disconnect and distance the youth from the family of the progressive and render them useless, a generation existing without purpose.
Yet it is in the current terrain of revolution that the youth should more than ever be attuned to the task of the revolution, for their contribution and commitment is required now more than ever before.
The challenges our revolution is facing now are larger and more complex than ever before. The enemy has a faceless character, thus demanding vigilance on the part of the revolutionaries. Our movement, freedom and revolution are under attack. It is thus incumbent on the youth in particular to consolidate and champion the defence of our movement and the broader revolutionary programme. Thus with dedication we will ensure the progression of transformation agenda in our country.
Defending our revolutionary gains Central to the community of the motive forces is the youth stratum. The youth is strategically positioned to carry out particular responsibilities.
The youth must learn from history, to be able to contribute in the present and successfully master the future.
To young people future is a reality, not merely a dream. This is the very reason that the firm responsibility of our movement should be to ensure proper and efficient investment in young people. Coupled with this is the need for our movement to not only be satisfied with the existence of the ANC Youth League but also consciously and responsibly ensure that the movement has clear programmes to develop young cadres.
The formation of the ANC Youth League came at a time when the ANC was under attack from critics who said the national movement was unable to advance the nation's cause in a manner commensurate with the demands of the times.
In response to this, the ANC Youth League Manifesto of 1944 said: 'The formation of the African National Congress Youth League is an answer and assurance to the critics of the national movement that African Youth will not allow the struggles and sacrifices of their fathers to have been in vain. Our fathers fought so that we, better equipped when our time came, should start and continue from where they stopped.'
It further said: 'In response to the demands of the times African Youth is laying its services at the disposal of the national liberation movement, the African National Congress, in the firm belief, knowledge and conviction that the cause of Africa must and will triumph.' Instead of joining the critics, the African youth opted to commit their lives and times to advancing the national cause. In their numbers they came together on 10 September 1944 to form the ANCYL, crafting the Youth League's role and objective to rally the youth of our country to support and unite behind the banner of ANC and at the same time champion their interest while making sure that the African youth are actively involved in the struggle for liberation.
So in the broader struggle waged by the ANC, the ANCYL defined its role correctly. This role has advanced and taken different forms and shapes, in different phases and pillars of the struggle. The role and challenges facing the league are much bigger now than they were 60 years ago.
In the past ten years, the Youth League has had to engage in a process of both transforming the organisation and locating its role in the broad liberation movement and in the transformation agenda of our country. As always, the youth did not fail this task. The youth movement knows what to do and has crafted a programme whose flexibility allows us to continuously review and revisit its relevance, correctness and promptness.
The nature of the challenges of the current phase demand of us to be united more than ever before. The unity of our organisation should be such that all those outside the ranks of the ANC Youth League find it very lonely out there. Yet at the same time we in the league should continue to build and affirm structures which are welcoming to all young people in the country.
Our structures should not shy away from discharging their political duties in ensuring among other things significant youth development programmes at all levels and in all spheres of government. We must, in celebrating our freedom and 60 year anniversary of the ANC Youth League, renew our commitment to the national cause and the defence of its gains.
The work of continuing building on the foundation of democracy must be accelerated; the labours of youth must be channeled to ensuring that our nation realises all the clauses of the Freedom Charter, building up to the centenary of our movement.
The hegemony of our movement must take a clearer shape and meaning. The roll-out of youth empowerment and development programmes to all youth in our country, rural and urban, farms, townships and suburbs, can't afford any delays.
Young people must be encouraged to occupy the ranks of the community of entrepreneurs. The world of professionals should be dominated by the African youth. We must endeavor to ensure that the spirit of patriotism is instilled in our youth.
As the youth of the 1940s and 1970s did not disappoint the finest cause of our people, we dare not fail to even do more to defend the gains of the revolution. Our responsibility should be to do, in the words of Fidel Castro, 'all and everything for the revolution and nothing against it'.
We must continue to sharpen our skills and broaden our political landscape, this to guard against falling prey to the vultures of doom. We will be guilty of lying if we make a claim that all is well. It is in our preparedness and discipline that, as youth, we will take forward the national cause. Joining the voice of popcorn civic organisations will not help us, but our continual support and engagement with our government will improve our cause.
As the youth we should seek to dictate the public debate agenda and not let the neo-liberal forces continue misleading the masses of our people. We should channel the youth into thinking positive and better interpret the programmes of moral regeneration in their everyday actions.
Malibongwe Kanjana is an ANC member in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng.
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