Statement delivered by Marius Fransman at Salt River on Post-School Education Summit hosted by SAYC-WC, April 12 2012
Programme Director
Honorable guests
Summit Delegates
Ladies and gentlemen
On the 16th June 1996 on the occassion of the 20th anniversary of the Soweto uprising President Mandela addressing a Youth Rally in then Pietersburg said and I quote: "Not long ago, a school in a town that is situated just a few kilometres from here captured the news headlines throughout the world for refusing to admit black pupils." Sixteen years on black pupils from the Eastern Cape are still regarded as refugees in this province when the Freedom Charter and our Constitution says South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white.'
As the proceedings of this second Youth Summit gets underway we are confronted with the stark question: "what kind of future are we creating for young people of thIs p4ovince when old patterns of race, class and gender discrimination are still being perpetuated within a political, social,economic,cultural and spatial context." I call on this Youth Summit to adopt a strong position and raise your voices against this scourge that still rears it's ugly head.
Not so long ago Cape Town was rated as the most unequal place in the world according to the UNDP Human Development Report. It is therefore no surprise that a young white matriculant has a much better chance of obtaining employment than his black (coloured and african) counterparts.
At a tertiary studies level we suffer the same pattern. I want to single out UCT as an example as it is currently engaging in a very robust debate as to whether it should do away with its current admissions policy which is intended to address the historical apartheid legacy of access to tertiary education. Yet even in terms of the current admissions policy the transformation for historically disadvantaged african and coloured students in general and the Western Cape in particular are dismal in the extreme. Let us begin to interrogate some of it's consequences.
Of approximately 25 000 students currently studying at UCT today approximately 150 students matriculated from schools in Mitchells Plain, Khayelitsha, and Gugulethu. This means that students in African and coloured townships in the Western Cape have 0.006% chance of getting into UCT.
Interrogating the statistics further indicates an even more worrying trend. Today the number of black students at UCT in some faculties is the lowest it has been in 20 years. For example in the Law Faculty there is not a single black (coloured and african) student in the final year LLB class of 2012. In 1984 there were about 14 black students out of approximately 150 students graduating in law. In 1995 their were approximately 46 black (coloured and african) students graduating in law. In 2012 there will be 0 black (coloured and african) students graduating in law from UCT.
The more pertinent question is how then will UCT look in 10 years time if the current policy with all its weaknesses is completely done away as the more privileged classes led by this DA government argue for entry based solely on academic marks without taking into account our poorer students subjective conditions. No doubt the current policy must be changed, but it should be changed to more adequately address the historical legacy of Apartheid and advance transformation not to reverse even the mediocre gains.
A greater challenge currently facing our youth is unemployment. The unemployment figures in the Western Cape currently stand at approximately 22% of which 80% are youth in general and women youth in particular. However, The reality however is that the majority of the unemployed again are youth who reside from the areas of Mitchells Plain, Khayelitsha. Mannenburg and Gugelethu and all the other African and colored townships of the Western Cape not are historically white and middle class privileged areas.
Linked to the above Is the issue of crime as a key challenge for our youth of today. In fact Cape Town has on numerous occasions been rated one of the most violent cities and at times the most violent city in the World with youth being the major perpetrators and victims of serious and violent crime. Yet that is only true to an extent. It is not the whole of Cape Town that is violent it is only pockets of Cape Town where the majority of youth are affected by the realities of crime including murder, rape, robbery, sexual assault, gangsterism and other crimes against women and children.
Serious and violent crime and all its consequential social pathologies are spatially located within our poorer historically coloured and african townships. From Mannneberg to Mfulerii,from Mitchells Plain to Mkakaza,from Bonteheuwel to Bongelethu, from Khayelitsha to Cloetesville, from Gugelethu to Grabouw it is these youth who are the victims and perpetrators of crime. It is not the youth from Constantia to Camps Bay, who are the major victims and perpetrators of crime. It is not the youth of Bishop Court that are affected by violent crime it is the youth of Bishop Lavis. It is not the youth of the Atlantic seaboard that are affected by violent crime it is the youth of Atlantis.
In addition today, the level of attrition amongst black youth and women SMMEs in this province is at it's highest as the bulk of public sector contracts now go to old white contractors. In the property sector, new black entrants into the market with few exceptions struggle to survive and grow.
This year as we celebrate 100 years of the founding of Africa's oldest liberation movement we are compelled to ask our young people: what kind of society are you building for the next 100 years. What are the values upon which we are building? Will you follow in the footsteps of the youth of 1912, the young heroes of 1946, the kliptown generation of 1955, the young martyrs of 1976, the student rebels of 1981 and the young lions of 1985/6 who responded to the call to bring Apartheid to it's knees and usher in the dawn of democracy.
What will be your legacy? What are you youth of today doing about the situation we are facing? What are you doing to challenge the current racial, socio economic, cultural and spatial environment you find yourself in, in this province. How do you plan to agitate for change to benefit the marginalised youth of this province.
Youth by your nature represent militancy and energy. Therefore given the current trajectory how do you as youth plan to channel this energy in order to ensure a positive transformation agenda. How do you position yourself to not only benefit from the numerous government programs and policy imperatives that are at your disposal. More importantly, how do you leverage these opportunities to create a new dawn and new hope for this generation and posterity. It is the youth themselves that need to lead this battle for a better life.
In conclusion, I leave you with this final thought. It is said that the final measure of success is not the many claims that you make to greatness. The greatest measure of success is that others, generations from now, will say here was a generation who made a difference not just for themselves but for posterity.
I thank you.
Issued by the South African Youth Council Western Cape (SAYC-WC), April 12 2012. Transcribed from PDF - as such there may be errors in the text.
Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter
