If there is something the youth excels in and with South Africans as a whole, is that we love COMPLAINING. We have become so accustomed to protesting, striking, loitering and destroying anything if something does not benefit us. The youth are in a state of limbo where we expect things to get done for us, we expect people to do favours for us and ultimately because our forefathers fought a forever never ending battle, we feel a sense of entitlement in South Africa.
Not to be oblivious to the events of apartheid, we live in an environment where we think the country is ours, the land is ours, the jobs are ours and everything should be ours. GET THAT OUT OF YOUR HEAD. We tend to voice out our opinions on Twitter and Facebook; but what are we saying? What is actually the struggle of this generation?
We fail to unite and speak as a group, we are in an identity crisis because we do not know who to follow, and who we are. It is not our government that must step up, it is us the youth and more especially the black youth that needs to step up and actually make a difference in South Africa. Wake up, study hard, work hard, make your mark, express yourself and become the best version of yourself by digging in deep and actually test yourself as a human being.
The reality of it all
The reason I am voicing out my disappointment at us as the youth is, we are very comfortable, we think freedom is doing whatever you want. The saying 'life starts outside your comfort zone' is the perfect example of how the dynamics in life are. 'Go out there despite any obstacles and DO THE MOST. Despite all the problems we have, grab life by the ba**s' and make a name for yourself. How else are you going to get recognised? Unless your surname says Zuma, you will not inherit anything from this country except the satisfaction of knowing you worked hard and you made your country.
The problem with complacency
Not to sound privileged or lucky, but the government put me through my tertiary studies and helped me obtain two degrees at the University of Johannesburg via NSFAS. When I attended the first Fees Must Fall march at the Union Buildings, I actually noticed that government tries to do the most for us. If they can fund over a billion rand in tertiary funds, over a billion rand on our grandparents with the social grant and if they can help via education reaching your goals and ambitions, then what exactly are we complaining about.
As a young black man living in South Africa, I understand. I understand the pain and the suffering our people have been through. However, for how long have we been complaining, we have been protesting and fighting for over 50 years and nothing seems to satisfy us. While I came to this epiphany I realised that YOUR LIFE IS IN YOUR HANDS. No one but yourself is going to get you out that situation. Be bold, be persistent and be Consistent, show us what you are about and the world will be yours.
Ultimately know your value, know your worth and believe in yourself. In this cruel world you don't just inherit things or get what you want, you work for what you want. So if you want to change, you be the change. If you want to be a musician, be bold and upload your music. If education does not work out for you, keep your head high, maybe you were destined as a practitioner. The fact is, take control of your life, get up and find your passion. Our forefathers, grandparents and parents want us to be the future of this nation, so I think we stood up and took control of our lives.