We have no youth leaders

Today’s young leaders are largely, arrogant, self-obsessed and concerned with position and power.

I’m talking about, mostly, young men and women who are not only under 35 years of age but hold so-called important positions of influence and power in organisations, be it politics, business, NGOs or even the church.

They are not the sort of people you can convincingly say are genuinely concerned about the plight of the poor. The historical mission of the young has always been to improve upon the achievement of their predecessors, especially their parents.

If all your parents could achieve was a permit to own a four-roomed matchbox house in the township, for instance, the responsibility of the young would be to transform it into a decent and dignified abode where the tenants can command some measure of respect.

It’s a pity that today’s young leaders are more inclined to move out of their parents’ homes and away from their communities to posh apartments in previous whites-only suburbs before they have improved their homes.

Unfortunately, the young leaders of today are mostly obsessed with designer labels, posh cars and other material things that supposedly symbolise their personal achievement and the fact that they “have arrived”.

They are concerned with being symbols of success that are part of the confused, black middle class.

One would have expected the young leaders to be, primarily, concerned with creating an equal and just society that emphasises the realisation of the aspirations and hopes of the marginalised poor, unemployed and hopelessly unskilled.

But to be young and hip today is simply about displaying that one has “made it” in the new South Africa. Of course, it would be very unfair to compare today’s young leaders with the 1976 generation of leadership that gave us June 16.

I was a naive township youngster at the time but what I witnessed was an inspiring group of young leaders who seemed to be genuine in their impatience and anger at the fact that their parents were collaborating with apartheid.

The young leaders, epitomised by the late Tsietsi Mashinini, were self-assertive and focused in their agenda to shake and challenge the apartheid system to its core. The aim was to pave the way towards genuine black freedom where everyone, irrespective of colour, class or creed would have the right to vote.

When one looked up to these young leaders, they were visionaries who pointed out the best solutions for justice, peace and democracy in a society they envisaged. Many other youngsters were so inspired they joined their ranks and were willing to offer their lives as a sacrifice to the attainment of that goal.

But 35 years later, the young leaders of today appear to be too eager to be seen driving around in BMWs, Range Rovers and other expensive cars. As if that would not be enough, they desire to be seen to be staying at what is considered the right addresses in exclusive white suburbs and hobnobbing with well-connected, elderly, super-achievers who can give them access to money and everything else it can buy.

In fact, so-called young leaders desire acceptance and use their position to negotiate better deals for themselves as individuals at the expense of the organisation they are supposed to lead. The only time they are found among the downtrodden is when they want to pretend to be concerned with their plight by reminding them about a dead past that only belongs to history books.

There are far too few young leaders who seem to be committed to meaningful change that will transform the status quo. They need to make it easier for their elders to believe there is hope for this country because they will be in charge for the next 30 years and more.

The greatest among our young leaders are those who are genuine servants of the people and not those who want to use their position to elevate themselves to top-dog status. They must destroy the desire to be part of an unjust economic system and stand up for what is moral and right.

The absence of solid, young leaders with a vision for a just and equal society is a symptom of a problem that will be with us for the next 50 years.

It’s time young people seriously thought about what they want to give this country and not what they can get out of it, now.