Pretoria - Correctional Services Minister Sibusiso Ndebele has called on the youth to pursue humility instead of opulence.
“We get worried when, among our youth today, we have produced cultures of opulence such as we observe in a sub-culture called izikhothane. We get worried when, instead of getting on with the work whose foundations were laid by young people of the past in creating a non-racial, non-sexist democratic and united South Africa, we see sub-cultures of ostentatious display of personal wealth by young people,” he said on Tuesday.
As chairperson of the African Renaissance and Minister, Ndebele was addressing the Youth Pioneers Conference, as part of the 15th annual African Renaissance Festival 2013.
“Often we worry that our youth, like the rest of society today, are taking into the culture of materialism: perhaps, more than seeking humanity, human values, Ubuntu, and the upliftment of the poor and those less fortunate.”
Ndebele said that South Africa is what it is today because of the radicalism of the youth of the 1940s and of the sacrifices made by the youth of 1976—impact made by the youth of the day such as former President Nelson Mandela.
“We, the older generation, always wake up with one question that is worrying us all: How well prepared are the youth of today to emulate the courage of a youthful John Dube who even, as someone hardly in his thirties, had built a school, in 1900, which still stands today; had started a newspaper in 1903,” said Ndebele.
The minister spoke to the challenge of drug abuse which is one of the country’s health and social problems
“As the consumption of the dangerous concoction, known as nyaope, continues to wreak havoc in communities, substance abuse continues to pose a challenge for government and, most importantly, families,” he said.
Last week, President Jacob Zuma visited Eldorado Park, Gauteng following letters from parents who wrote to him about the drug problem in the area where children are hooked on drugs from a young age.
“We refuse to watch our children’s future being destroyed by drugs. We have to work together to fight and rid our communities of this epidemic. A partnership between government and communities will ensure that together we stop the rot of substance abuse.”
The two-day 15th annual African Renaissance Festival 2013 which kicks off on Thursday celebrates, debates and examine broader issues relating to re-defining and rebuilding the African continent through accessing and developing its own rich social, economic and political resources. - SAnews.org.za
