The Ahmed Kathrada Foundation (AKF), through its Youth Activism Programme, hosted its annual youth leadership camp from 25 to 28 November 2022 in Magaliesburg. More than 86 members from 30 different community-based AKF youth activist clubs in Gauteng took part in the four-day programme. 

The camp was the largest yet hosted by the AKF, and testament to its growth over the past three years working at a grassroots level to create new and alternative platforms for young people to engage in democratic and civic activism. The programme has more than 400 members and continues to grow steadily towards our target of 100 youth clubs nationally in 2029, marking the centenary of Ahmed Kathrada’s birth. 

This full-circle moment was a very heart-warming experience for me. From attending my first AKF Leadership Camp on Robben Island in 2014 as a participant in the programme, to leading the youth programme eight years later, was truly an emotional experience. 

As a young activist, I had no idea that I would find myself on this journey. The learning and growth within the AKF and in building this programme has brought a great desire for me to keep creating new spaces for young people to express themselves and engage in the change-making process. Our country needs more young people to rise up to this challenge of designing the future we want to live in, but equally it needs non-youth actors – the parents, NGOs, policymakers, politicians and everyday citizens – to ask how they can support and promote youth leadership and activism. 

AKF members tackle in the warrior challenge obstacle courses in the Magaliesburg to kick-start the day. (Photo: Ahmed Kathrada Foundation)

Being a legacy bearer comes with its fair share of responsibility and sacrifice. It is a commitment to serving the needs of the people of our country and ensuring that we build our communities on the basis of equality and justice.

On a trip to Robben Island this year, I penned a letter to Ahmed Kathrada while sitting outside the prison cell blocks. It was an emotional reflection of my thoughts and experiences over the years, particularly on whether we are up to the next task of struggle as the younger generations. 

A segment of that letter reads: “My commitment to carry the baton forward is renewed amidst these emotions. I think the magnetic ability of this island to drive me to feel both the pain and hope – that echoed from all across the sea – has helped centre myself to the reason I wanted to carry out this task in the first place. It is the task to never forsake humanity and ensure all people live a life of peace and dignity with their full right to life respected and honoured.” 

Young people defending democracy

Democracy has been eroding all across the world, and the quest to enhance and strengthen it often has been left to civil society actors. This is not a sustainable model and must be changed and challenged. The AKF Youth Activism Programme has sought to address this, mobilising hundreds of young people and actively organising youth at a grassroots level. Encouraging people-driven activism through a non-partisan approach.

Read in Daily Maverick: “Pass the Baton – it’s time for young people to really to really take over” 

The camp is an annual event allowing us to reflect, learn and engage on how we take forward our work into the new year. This year we had an array of speakers and sessions focused on skills and leadership development. 

The Rivonia Circle conducted the Democracy Builder workshop that set the tone for the rest of the camp, while the AKF team conducted a session on “Coordinating & Managing an Effective Youth Club”, drawing focus to our need to organise better locally. 

We tasked participants to develop and create new songs of struggle that define youth issues in our context today, in which many exceeded our expectations. We hope to record these songs in the new year for others to learn and engage with. 

An important component of the camp was the “Psycho-social & Emotional Awareness Development” sessions, which prompted participants to search and reflect from within – connecting their personal journeys to the broader quest we are collectively embarking on.  

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This directly linked to the “The Art of Storytelling in Creating Change” workshop conducted by activist Firdoze Bulbulia, which helped young people think through their stories and their ability to tell them in ways that can inspire change, but also how they can use various tools to mobilise and highlight issues affecting them. 

Read in Daily Maverick: “Reflecting on youth and imagination as the means of changing the world for the better” 

The highlight for me was the robust and frank discussions the young participants had about the role we should play in encouraging youth participation in democratic and electoral processes. Ideas emerged for us to coordinate and support mass civic education campaigns and voter registration drives to encourage a broad base of youth across the political spectrum to get involved and use their power to act.  

All attendees were awarded certificates for their participation at the camp on the final night. Special awards were also determined by camp participants for those who displayed examplary leadership and service. (Photo: Ahmed Kathrada Foundation)

Solidarity building is a key feature of how we intend to keep building this programme, and we are grateful that a number of social movements were able to contribute to the camp and its success. These are the Climate Justice Coalition, the Defend our Democracy campaign, the National Shelter Movement, Right2Protest and other individual activists who remain committed to strengthening youth activism in South Africa. 

There is a hive of hope being harvested in programmes like ours. Hope that despite the grave and difficult challenges we collectively face, it will not remain the same. It is our generational mission as young people to ensure we unite towards building a functional state free from corruption and bad governance, that can deliver on the promises of political, economic and cultural freedoms. 

This progressive task is in our hands and we must encourage many others to rise with us to make it a reality. DM/MC

Irfaan Mangera is the Youth Activism Programme Manager at the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation.