THE BLACK SOUTH AFRICAN MILLENNIALS AND BORN FREES ARE IN A TIGHT CORNER

My heart goes to the enormous challenges faced by black South African millennials (1982-1995) and born frees (1994- to date). These challenges are in addition to their generational challenges which I classify as those of their own doing or, at least, those over which they have a great measure of control.

This group is caught within a triangle which makes it very difficult if not impossible to escape.

At the top of the triangle is lack of ethical leadership.

On the left is lack of creative or enterprising leadership.

On the right is lack of economic resources.

Never in my experience have I ever heard of a liberated people who must fight to emancipate themselves from failures of others before they start to look at how they can release their potential.

The ethical leadership manifests itself in the following practical ways, at least:

·         Failure to provide this group with a proper education system that equips them for the future.

·         Failure to deal with corruption decisively so that resources of the country are not squandered.

·         Failure to embed a culture of accountability as this creates an impression that failure has no consequences.

On the left:

·         Adults continuously blame government and shift their responsibility of parenthood.

·         Able bodied adults who don't want to do anything for themselves (they don't even want to paint by themselves a house given to them by government).

·         Adults who refuse to explore other possibilities for survival when traditional means are no longer viable ( e.g, who wants to go back to plough the fields when jobs are no longer available in the mines)

·         Adults who have eroded the black traditions and values and have passed nothing to the next generation.

On the right:

·         False expectations are being created that if people spend enough time at hotel lobbies waiting for or discussing deals, wealth will come soon.

·         Our white compatriots who are still by far the captains of industry unwilling to give this group any opportunity.

·         Endless  and meaningless discussions about rich black people instead of acknowledging that wealth has not shifted at all from our white compatriots.

·         Lack of bold steps by those in authority to embark on serious programmes to help this group with economic means (not grants) so they can take their chances.

I hope these millennials and born frees will understand what Steve Biko meant when he wrote “Black man you are on your own".

NOW, BLACK MELLENNIALS AND BORN FREES, YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN.

SOUTH AFRICA MUST TAKE ITS PLACE ONE DAY IN THE WORLD STAGE: JULY 2012

Sometimes one cannot always discuss South Africa without making reference to the rest of the African continent. This is so because the rest of the world, sometimes rightly or wrongly, will attribute certain behavioral patterns to Africans with no care whatsoever whether you are from the South, East or anywhere else in Africa.

I was taken aback by two issues on the recent trip I had to the East. This was in South Korea and in Vietnam.

The first striking thing was the absence of Africans, everywhere I went in these countries, even in the markets where you might think African traders would be present. The assumption they make there is that if you are black, you are American.

It was quite clear that in these countries they do not receive any significant number of Black South Africans, I guess they would not know where our white compatriots come from, in fact, they might be surprised if they come from Africa at all.

The surprise they had, was not derogatory like in the west, where people think wild animals still roam the streets in Africa.

I was particularly shocked by all this in Korea (they don't call it South Korea) because as late as few months ago, a Korean telecoms company wanted to buy a significant interest in Telkom.

Whilst this was a shock, it pointed to immense unexplored opportunities by South Africans to go to markets they are not in, if they have something to offer.

The second shock was an identity one.

As far as Easterners are concerned there is only East and West in the world. Since, as an African, I am not from the East I am therefore from the West.

When people continuously tell you that " we don't do things like you do in the west" you get tired of telling them that you are an African and not from the West in the sense of what they say.

For the first time, I asked myself, if I keep arguing that I am an African but continue to behave, in all manners like somebody from the west, what makes me different in their eyes? Is our being African reduced only to looks and the texture of our hair?

It's about time that South Africa take up their rightful place in the world stage and assert. My only concern is that we are so absorbed and consumed  by our internal petty issues that we forget that there is space waiting for us in the world stage to be occupied but we have to go out there and take it.

18 YEARS SINCE INDEPENDENCE: WHERE IS OUR HOPE

With the apartheid era fading from collective memory a new question arises, when will the next generation, especially black youth up to the age of 27, be truly independent? I feel that this question should come in the context of the South African youth being compared to other African youths.


Africans from the rest of Africa, from my personal observation, demonstrate admirable confidence, and have an extensive knowledge of their history and culture. It could be that this is due to the fact that some of my African compatriots were liberated from the 1960s and have had ample opportunity to find a sense of self, this is shown by the large number of Africans who have gone abroad and established themselves beyond their borders.

South African black youth, still in their formative years, seem to lack the ability to rebel at being treated as second class citizens, which classification their African counterparts have long rejected. This rejection form the basis of free and independent Africans who are comfortable with themselves and are equal to anyone, who are willing to explore and learn, and possess no inferiority complex due to being African.

One has to acknowledge though that whilst our education system is still one of the major drawbacks to unleash this potential, the few who have come out the private and model C schools and thus have escaped the less than ideal public education system should begin to form the nucleus of this movement to independence

They are a generation which hopefully shall not require BEE to assist them to get into business, they shall not require initiatives such as affirmative action to get opportunities in the corporate world, they shall demand their place in the corporate world, and they shall unleash creativity and innovation that will help them release their business acumen with no need of government support

It is therefore important for this generation, from day one, to learn from their African counterparts as to what it means to be a free African in terms of values, demands, aggression and self self-reliance

Whilst the intention is not to put pressure on this generation, it is important for one to realise that as a black community in SA for the first time in almost 300 years, we have a group of people to showcase and pin our hopes on. It is now up to each and every one of them to wake up tomorrow, understanding the very ideal position they are in, to decide how they will take advantage of the vast amount of space afforded to them, to think, to express, to enjoy, to be free.

It's a very interesting continent, my continent.

It's a very interesting continent, my continent.

I was yet on another journey via Nairobi in Kenya. By the way, if there is one thing Kenya Airways has done well, is the creation of an African hub, Nairobi. Once in Nairobi it's far easier to get a flight to Freetown, Monrovia or even Djibouti or Khartoum, to mention but a few.
So once you are at Jomo Kenyatta airport, you have a better chance of observing fellow Africans in their natural habitat. I think a number, when they get to Johannesburg are not their usual self or those who get to Johannesburg are of a particular breed.
This time there was a group of East Africans going to Libreville for the finals of the AFCON, between Zambia and Ivory Coast (sorry Cote d’Ivoire) which was to be played on Sunday, 12 February 2012. Don't forget South Africa is hosting, by default, in 2013, yes I did say 2013.
Now there are interesting observations.
The group from Somalia is not very good at observing the queues. I reached a conclusion that queues are a luxury of civilization, which is easily dispensed with, when there are other pressing needs.
There were officials of football associations of various East African countries. I pity the South Africans that want some CAF positions. It's a clique/a club. The luxury of South Africans waiting for one person to talk at a time was not on the agenda. So, you needed your voice to be very loud to get a piece of the ears. I entertained myself, puzzled at the same time and hoping that when they are in formal meetings they do things differently.
Out of the 16 people in the business class, there was only one white person. Now this is what you can't miss in the continent. One of the reasons is of course that it is the continent of black people predominantly, but the other one is that if you cannot take harsh conditions get out of the African continent. I don't include South Africa which is referred to as, Africa for beginners.