SA’s inconvenient truth: What the generation of 1976 paid for has not been realised

In my opinion, the year 1994, a moment etched into our collective memory as the dawn of a democratic South Africa, was never a clean slate. It was a beginning born from immense sacrifices, a tapestry woven with the threads of struggle, sorrow, as well as a significant number of unfulfilled promises.

While we entered this nostalgic era as a nation reborn, many among us remain heavily burdened by the ghosts of our hard and brutal past.

This being that the democratic dispensation, while a monumental victory, did not instantly heal the wounds of apartheid. Instead, it left deep, unaddressed scars, the remnants of which still haunt vast poor and marginalised communities across the nation, particularly young people.

This is our inconvenient truth – a reality where the legacy of segregation, poverty and systemic inequality continues to define the lived experience of millions, a constant and painful reminder that our journey to true freedom is far from over, and our collective story of true and meaningful transformation and equality far from being complete.

However, having said that, it is fundamental to note that the current socioeconomic and political crisis that we find ourselves in as a country is not solely a direct reflection of this unhealed past; the tragic consequence of an inherited legacy is being actively exacerbated by present-day failings.

The numerous wounds of yesterday’s injustices – economic despair, social fragmentation and political malaise – have sadly been deepened by a corrosive culture of corruption, a pervasive lack of integrity and a breakdown in accountability. And it is this combination of historical burden and contemporary failures that has brought us to the precarious state we find ourselves in three decades later.

The current state of our nation and its young people

What I know for certain is this: none of us can argue against the fact that South Africa is currently at a critical and multifaceted precipice, characterised by growing societal volatility as well as lacklustre leadership in the face of systemic decline.

The country’s economic and political foundations are weakening, with widespread corruption continuing to cost us billions, significantly hindering economic growth.

And if the allegations made by Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi prove true, the most disheartening emerging revelation for me is that the very individuals within the South African Police Service as well as the state who have been entrusted with protecting society have actively facilitated the drug epidemic in our communities. Countless families shattered, promising young lives extinguished, with many talented young people ostracised and labelled “nyaopes” or “paras” instead of receiving the help they desperately need to live up to their highest potential.

This is a profound betrayal by those sworn to safeguard our wellbeing.

Equally, a parallel crisis of hunger persists, often overlooked, alongside the profound despair and hopelessness gripping millions of young people. While we live in an era of unprecedented technology, capable of turning the grandest dreams into reality, we are failing to secure the most basic human right: a single meal a day is somehow becoming a luxury for millions of people across socioeconomic levels.

What is the uncomfortable truth we must accept? As long as anyone sleeps hungry, none of us is ever going to be safe. For progress means nothing if we leave humanity behind.

As of the first quarter of 2025, the unemployment rate for those aged 15 to 24 was 60.9%, leaving millions without prospects and contributing to a sense of social hopelessness. Added to this joblessness catastrophe is the scourge of substance abuse further eroding the social fabric, with estimates suggesting that a significant proportion of all crimes are related to substance abuse, highlighting a normalised crisis that pervades society.

Taking all the above into account, we now stand at a crossroads as a nation with the weight of history on our shoulders and the future of our children in our hands: an uncomfortable and inconvenient place where no citizen across our diversity can ever dare to suggest that the South Africa of our deepest imagination is not worth fighting for.

The call to action

Yet, amid this deepening crisis we are reminded once more as we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Soweto Uprising of what it has taken for us as a nation to have come this far. We are compelled to reflect on how a generation of children paid in blood against an oppressive system in pursuit of and fighting for the future of their greatest longing; one which, if we are honest with ourselves given the current state of young people in this country, is far from being realised despite the strides that have been made.

Thus, a pivotal question emerges in completing this unfinished business, one that calls for deep and uncomfortable personal reflection: What concessions are we truly willing to make for the sake of our common good and the love we hold for this beautiful, wounded country?

This is not merely a question for our leaders, but a challenge I pose to every citizen to confront our own role and willingness in choosing to either be on the side of perpetuating the status quo or that of actively forging a new path, noting full well that the middle is no longer a feasible option for any of us.

To bridge the gap between the sacrifices of the past and the promise of the future, we must pivot from the comfort of rhetoric to the discipline of service. Building the next 50 years of a free South Africa demands the immediate establishment of unconventional partnerships that shatter traditional silos.

We cannot afford to and must no longer operate within the isolated confines of the government, the private sector, civil society or opposing political poles. This is because the unprecedented challenges confronting our young people – systemic unemployment, educational gaps and economic exclusion – require us to urgently think completely out of the box.

We must therefore recognise that extraordinary circumstances demand extraordinary alliances: corporate giants pairing with township entrepreneurs, grassroots community organisers co-designing curriculums with academic institutions, and cross-sector coalitions pooling resources to build localised economic hubs.

This is a call to active, practical service where every sector must sacrifice its narrow self-interest to build a resilient, shared foundation for the common good.

Crucially, this new ecosystem cannot be built for young people without being built with them. True, long-lasting transformation is impossible without the explicit buy-in, agency and fiery vigour of young people themselves.

We must move past the tokenism culture of inviting young people to tables where the menu has already been decided by the elders; instead, space must be created to make them the architects of the co-creation ecosystem.

By embedding youth agency directly into the design, execution and governance of these cross-sector solutions, we not only ensure that the legacy we build is both relevant and sustainable, but is also owned by them.

If we are to truly honour the generation of 1976 and radically alter the trajectory of the next 50 years for the class of 2026, our ultimate guiding principle must be unyielding and resolute: there can be nothing about young people without young people.

Why does this call to action matter?

Our collective inaction and the pervasive sense of apathy that have seemingly gripped our communities and society at large are no longer tenable; and to avoid a descent into widespread civil unrest, it is imperative for all citizens to move beyond passive observation to unified action.

We must therefore, and can, despite the hardships that lie ahead, choose to tell a different story for our children and those who will come after them – a story not of this disheartening despair that we live in today, but of a nation that found its way back to its founding principles of justice, dignity, unity, integrity and hope during one of our hardest moments yet.

This is a fight for the soul of our nation, and it is a fight we must win, together. DM