https://www.polity.org.za
Deepening Democracy through Access to Information
Home / Opinion / Other Opinions RSS ← Back
Close

Email this article

separate emails by commas, maximum limit of 4 addresses

Sponsored by

Close

Article Enquiry

Forgotten Youths (Youth Living In Small Towns)

Close

Embed Video

Forgotten Youths (Youth Living In Small Towns)

Nompendulo Mkatshwa
Nompendulo Mkatshwa

15th June 2018

ARTICLE ENQUIRY      SAVE THIS ARTICLE      EMAIL THIS ARTICLE

Font size: -+

From my observations, I note that as young people we often complain about how youth programs are limited to youth month only. Of course it is understandable as to why there would be such great emphasis during the month in which we commemorate the efforts young people have made towards the bettering of our nation; however we must caution and encourage society as a whole to work towards the implementation of year-long, sustainable and long-term youth programs and initiatives.

Young people, further argue that the big youth programs of youth month are limited to big cities such as Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town and not taken to the rural areas in the different provinces. This is problematic as young people living in rural areas are equally in need of the type of exposure and opportunities that come with these programs.

Advertisement

However, in this article, I want to further argue that in our programs let us not forget the youth living in small towns.

Since December 2016, I have frequented a small town called Knysna, on the northern coastline of the Western Cape. South Africans who are familiar with or have heard of Knysna will often mention how Knysna is a beautiful, affluent, small holiday destination situated along the Garden Route associated with the wealthiest folks of our country. People will speak about the beautiful forests and beaches, the jaw-dropping Knysna Heads, the lovely Spa sessions at Conrad Pezula et cetera et cetera… But never will you hear anyone mention the small townships up the hill on the other side of the N2. Many people have probably been to Knysna a lot of times and never seen the township itself. My response to the shock that comes with the discovery of the township is: “but where you have business, you need labour”. You need labour to clean the hotels, serve at restaurants, clean the streets, build the houses etc.

Advertisement

You need workers, who as a legacy of the historical regimes of South Africa, are the proletariat of our society and predominantly live in our townships.

So, there is a township in the small town called Knysna and in that township, there is a youth. A youth whose immediate goal is to find a job in one of the holiday resorts in Knysna, like Conrad Pezula, or one of the best restaurants such as The Dry Dock. Topping that, would be to find a job in a neighbouring town which is a bit bigger, called George.

My biggest frustration with the polarisation of the town is of course first and foremost based on the socio-economic disparities between “white” dominated spaces and “black” dominated spaces. It is shocking how you can see such a vast difference in the livelihood of different peoples (communities) in such a small space.

Then it’s also the “smaller” matters that frustrate me. So, let’s argue that we encourage young people of the Knysna townships to study with UNISA for example. UNISA is a long-distance and e-learning orientated institution. It is wonderful that the Knysna library has internet access; however the library closes at 17h30. Note that I, a young person from the townships of Knysna, work day shift and use the night to study. The most reasonable cell-phone network is Cell C, but the network does not pick up in the township very well, only Vodacom picks up clearly. So, even if I wanted to go study at home and hot-spot from my cell-phone, I cannot afford to. Perhaps, I could go to the Waterfront where there is free WiFi, sit in the outside and uncomfortably study.

In essence, I felt that even when looking at tele-communication services and information and communications technology there were disparities that largely disadvantaged the black youth. In 2018, where access to information, knowledge, education and opportunities is online, and when we all agree that ‘education is the most powerful weapon that can be used to change the world’ and better the lives of our people, it is no new phenomena that affordable internet access is important for the success of young people.

But these were just my personal views from my own observations. In an attempt to verify my observations, I then decided to speak to a young lady from the Knysna townships and hear what she had to say about the realities of a young person living in a small town, like Knysna. Many of her views were reaffirming of the observations I had made as an outsider to the town.

The first thing she shared with me was that (like in many other parts of the country) youth unemployment and in fact general unemployment was rife in the Knysna townships. She said that the expected path of the life of a young person born in the Knysna townships was for them to go to school, hopefully complete their basic education and then either ‘sit at home due to unemployment, work in retail such as Shoprite or in a restaurant’. She said the few who successfully went on to institutions of higher education and training hardly returned to the small town and if they returned they would often struggle to find employment and thus settled for intern positions in order to provide for their families. She highlighted that there were institutions of higher education and training, however the one - called Tsiba Eden Campus was closed and the one that remains, called Heatherhill College, is unaffordable and thus attended mainly by young white people from affluent Knysna.

When asked about youth programs she felt that there were insufficient programs, almost insinuating that there were no programs. She did however suggest that there be a government initiated program where young people are educated and trained and returned to Knysna to plough back into the community. It pained her that youth day has become a day of entertainment filled with social activities centered around the consumption of alcohol. She says, “When the ANC was in power they made sure that youth programs were alive; from Youth celebration rallies to political lectures. Now none of that is happening and it’s been more than 10 years now”. Her greatest disappointment lies within her view that the youth has accepted the current status quo and has failed to unite in critically challenging the matters they are confronted with.

Noting the few challenges mentioned by this young lady, I want to say that we must be cautious of looking at small towns like Knysna and assuming that all is well. The issue with some of these geo-economic classifications is that they create extreme groupings of society and leave out the in-betweens. So whilst we focus on urban and rural based projects let us not forget the small towns, which when taking into consideration their economic activity, populations, economic gaps et cetera, can be classed as the “in-betweens”.

In towns like Knysna where there is a highly wealthy minority and a small overall population, it is highly possible for there to be programs where the wealth is used to benefit the less fortunate communities. There need to be programs that can make our youth aware of greater opportunities, so that they too can find greener pastures beyond the hills of Knysna, arm themselves with knowledge and skills, return to Knysna and be able to break the historic cycles of struggle and polarisation.

It is my personal view that the young people from the townships of Knysna must arm themselves to be able to agitate white comfort; arm themselves to be able to create a narrative of Knysna that is inclusive of its majority black population and arm themselves to create a different and better experience for a young person living in the townships of Knysna in the generations to come.

Long live the resilient spirit of South Africa’s youth!

Written by Nompendulo Mkatshwa, a BSc Geography Graduate from University of the Witwatersrand, PGCE Candidate University of South Africa, Former President Student Representative Council Wits, Former South African Students Congress Chairperson at Wits and Former Deputy Chairperson of Wits ANC Youth League.

Nompendulo Mkatshwa is a regular Polity columnist.

EMAIL THIS ARTICLE      SAVE THIS ARTICLE ARTICLE ENQUIRY

To subscribe email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or click here
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here

Comment Guidelines

About

Polity.org.za is a product of Creamer Media.
www.creamermedia.co.za

Other Creamer Media Products include:
Engineering News
Mining Weekly
Research Channel Africa

Read more

Subscriptions

We offer a variety of subscriptions to our Magazine, Website, PDF Reports and our photo library.

Subscriptions are available via the Creamer Media Store.

View store

Advertise

Advertising on Polity.org.za is an effective way to build and consolidate a company's profile among clients and prospective clients. Email advertising@creamermedia.co.za

View options
Free daily email newsletter Register Now