SADTU STATEMENT ON NATIONAL YOUTH DAY 2024
16 June 2024
The South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (SADTU) joins the country in commemorating the June 16, 1976, now declared National Youth Day.
As a Union operating in the education sector, we have every reason to celebrate this day and the youth of ’76 because their struggle was for what we stand for, quality public education.
The youth of ’76, young as they were, had full grasp of the critical role of education in changing lives for the better. Their sheer hunger for quality education prompted them to face the armed, ruthless, brutal, and racist apartheid machinery and rejected Afrikaans as a medium of instruction. Their defiance spread across the country into an uprising that cost the lives of many while others ended up in jail. The uprising fueled the struggle for the liberation of the oppressed majority.
As we observe this year’s Youth Day on the 30th year of South Africa’s constitutional democracy, we cannot deny the role of the Class of 76 in leading the country towards this dispensation we so enjoy today. We acknowledge the programmes and policies that have been put in place to ensure a better life for the country’s youth such as the no-fee-paying primary and secondary schools and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme which provides free tertiary education, learnerships and internships opportunities.
However, with all these above, the youth are confronted with high levels of unemployment, poverty, and violence. Even though some have taken advantage of education opportunities and studied, their certificates have not opened the doors of work. They have fewer or no resources to create job opportunities for themselves.
Sadly, when the country held the National and Provincial elections on May 29, we saw a declining number of youth voting – a crucial exercise that will shape the future of this country. Further, the political parties who participated in these elections had fewer young people in their lists to parliament. This is an indictment on the country’s faith in our youth.
As a union in the education sector, we commit to strive to ensure that our country provides the kind of education that will provide skills to the youth to not only navigate the challenges of the 21st century but that will also bring pride and confidence in them as South Africans with a rich history of overcoming obstacles and emerging stronger.
To address unemployment, we must grow the economy and ensure that the economy is in the hands of all South Africans and not the few. This minority that owns 90% of our country’s economy are a threat to our political stability. The land is still in the hands of the minority, and this cannot be tolerated because the youth fought for freedom including economic freedom.
We call on the youth of 2024 to use the day as a reminder of the power and potential of the youth and fight for what they believe is rightfully theirs and use to the fullest, every opportunity that has the potential to shape the future of this country such as exercising their right to vote.
ISSUED BY: SADTU Secretariat