Tag: YOUTH MONTH

By Sello Hatang: As we mark the 50th anniversary of June 16, our Word of the Week is Legacy.Fifty years ago, thousands of young people took to the streets of Soweto and other parts of South Africa to demand the right to a quality education and a future filled with dignity and opportunity. They were schoolchildren. They carried books, dreams and hopes. Yet they faced bullets, brutality and a system determined to silence them. The image captured by photographer Sam Nzima of young Hector Pieterson being carried by Mbuyisa Makhubo while his sister Antoinette Sithole ran beside them remains one of the most powerful symbols of our struggle for freedom. It is a photograph that reminds us that history is not merely a collection of dates and events....

By Katlego Rammusa: As we stand in the heart of Youth Month, we cannot ignore the harsh realities confronting young people today—unemployment, inequality, and the devastating grip of substance abuse. These are the battles many are forced to fight daily. Yet, on the other side of the same coin, there is another story unfolding- one of possibility, creativity, and triumph. Across South Africa, young people are refusing to be defined by their circumstances. They are building livelihoods from their talents, transforming gifts into gateways of opportunity. Take, for example, Cassper Nyovest - a young man from Mahikeng who arrived in Johannesburg armed not with privilege or a matric certificate, but with a dream and undeniable talent. Through shee...

By Sello Hatang: As we mark Youth Month, our word of the week is Youth. Every June, South Africans pause to remember the courage of the young people who took to the streets in 1976 and changed the course of our history. They were schoolchildren, dreamers, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters who believed that their voices mattered. They stood against injustice at great personal cost, and their actions became a defining chapter in our nation's journey to freedom. But Youth Month is not only about looking back. It is also about looking forward. It is about asking ourselves what kind of future we are creating for the young people of today. It is about reflecting on whether we are honouring the sacrifices of the past through our actions in the ...