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HISTORY OF YOUTH DAY
Remembering the significance of Youth Day
RYLAND FISHER writes that the best way to pay tribute to young people who gave their lives in 1976 is to make sure that young people now and in the future have no reason to protest
June 16 1976 will forever be etched in our memories by Sam Nzima picture of a bloodied 12-year-old Hector Pieterson, being carried by an emotional Mbuyisa Makhubu (then around 18) while Hector’s 17-year-old sister Antoinette runs frantically beside him.
As far as could be ascertained, Pieterson was the second child to be shot by police during the protest by high school learners in Soweto against being taught in Afrikaans. The fi rst protester to die was Hastings Ndlovu, 15, whose death was not recorded by photographers.
In some ways, this was a forerunner to what is happening today with the advent of social media and fancy cameras on mobile phones: It’s almost like some things never happened because they were not caught on camera or posted on social media.
Hundreds more were to be killed in the days and weeks that followed June 16 1976, not only in Soweto but throughout the country where other schools also joined the protests.
Youth Day has its genesis in one of the worst massacres in South African history. Until the ANC government changed its name, declared it an offi cial public holiday and cut it to one day: June 16 and 17 had always been known as Soweto Days. Throughout the country, the days became unoffi cial holidays.
Many historians credit the events of June 1976 in Soweto for the revival of the resistance inside South Africa which fi nally led to the release of Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners and the unbanning of the ANC and other political organisations in 1990. This resulted in our fi rst democratic elections on 27 April 1994, just over 27 years ago. Mandela, of course, had spent 27 years in prison for his resistance to apartheid.
Similarities and differences
As expected, there are similarities and differences between the youth of 1976 and the youth of 2021.
One of the differences is that while the youth of 1976 wanted to break down the apartheid state, the youth of 2021 have an opportunity to help build a democratic state.
The 1976 generation saw their task as opposing everything that was being done by the apartheid state, effectively making the country ungovernable, because black people were not allowed to vote or have a say in decisions affecting their lives.
The youth of today can participate in our democracy in many different ways: through voting for their preferred political party at election times, to participating in nongovernmental pressure groups, to joining protest actions if they believe their voice is not being heard.
Feeling betrayed
Over the past few years, I have been part of a process of dialogues where we spoke about the South Africa we want to live in, and we found that many young people feel betrayed by our democracy and our leaders.
Young people, by virtue of being the majority, feel the brunt of unemployment – the
The United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 392 on 19 June 1976 which strongly condemned the killings and the apartheid government.
offi cial fi gure is around 30 per cent, but some economists have estimated that the youth unemployment rate could be as high as 60 per cent.
The state of our economy could be blamed in part for this sorry state of affairs, but so could bad planning and policy making. The ANC, which has been governing South Africa for the past 27 years, has often taken decisions in the interest of the party and not the people they are meant to serve.
The best way to pay tribute to young people who gave their lives in 1976 is to make sure that young people would, in future, have no reason to protest because they would have free education and health care, access to decent jobs and housing, access to proper justice and the freedom to live their lives and enjoy their youth without fear of being shot and killed in our violent country.
We must not only make sure that the kind of massacre that happened in Soweto in 1976 never happens again. We must also make sure that the conditions that led to the massacre no longer exist.
THE POWER OF SAICA is building a pipeline of future business leaders by capacitating historically disadvantaged institutions the University of Venda. PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS
Thuthuka’s collaboration with the Sector Education and Training Authority Services (SETAs) has proven fruitful for all parties
Partnerships: one of the most powerful tools when it comes to helping an organisation achieve its aims. In the case of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA), these aims include working towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with a keen focus on quality education (SDG 4) and decent work and economic growth (SDG 8). SAICA’s Gugu Makhanya explains that the SETAs’ support has been central to the success of Thuthuka, the organisation’s vehicle for transformation and skills development.
“We have the drive to transform, grow and own the accounting education landscape in South Africa. Thuthuka helps us get closer to achieving this objective by becoming involved from school level up to professional qualification level,” Makhanya explains, noting that Thuthuka’s endeavours have helped to build a pipeline of future business leaders. “Another critical element of Thuthuka’s strategic focus is South Africa’s National Development Plan: Vision for 2030. This calls on the private, public and civic sectors, as well as South Africa’s citizens, to rally behind a united vision of South Africa’s development. The commitment of the Department of Higher Education and Training, through the SETAs, can not go without mention here.”
Goals of this magnitude cannot be achieved working in isolation – this is where the SETAs have a key role to play. The partnership is a natural one as the SETAs are mandated to contribute to skills development, especially among individuals who are already employed or seeking employment. As Makhanya comments, “there is a perfect synergy between these bodies.”
Makhanya says that the SETAs’ greatest contribution towards Thuthuka, since its inception, has been their generous funding, which she describes as “the lifeline of Thuthuka”.
FOCUS ON THE FINANCIAL AND ACCOUNTANCY SECTOR
Ayanda Mafuleka, CEO of the Financial and Accounting Services SETA (FASSET), says that as a former beneficiary of a programme funded by this SETA, she has personal experience of the value of the body’s work with Thuthuka – which is why she is an enthusiastic supporter of its efforts. “The skills needed by the financial industry remain scarce, especially
“SAICA’s goal is to transform, grow and own the accounting education landscape in South Africa. Thuthuka helps us get closer to achieving this objective by becoming involved from school level up to professional qualification level.” – Gugu Makhanya
among people from previously disadvantaged communities. And yet, they are crucial: chartered accountants (CAs(SA)) have the competencies required to drive and manage our country’s financial reserves. Without them, there is little hope of staying on track either to grow the economy or to move away from the informal sector, which currently accounts for many jobs in South Africa.”
FASSET, because it is not a tertiary institution or education service provider, has to rely on other organisations as implementing agents to help it meet its objective of increasing the flow of new accountants into the broader economy, and African black entrants, in particular, into the sector, she adds. “Thuthuka has done exceptionally well in this regard. The demographic profile of the sector has changed dramatically over the past two decades.”
FASSET’s role in the partnership extends to offering support at all stages of prospective accountants’ careers, starting with career guidance to increase the throughput rate of learners with pure mathematics and accounting as subjects of choice to a bursary scheme to fund undergraduate studies. The SETA also funds postgraduate studies in the form of the CTA qualification, one of the minimum requirements for sitting for SAICA’s qualifying examinations, and provides academic support for those writing the exam. “This is important in helping to address high failure rates”, says Mafuleka, “it’s not uncommon for learners who have done well in their undergraduate and CTA qualifications to find this part of their journey particularly challenging. This is why we work to cement all learnings until this point. We place special emphasis on supporting students who have had to repeat the work so that when they time comes to sit the APC exams, they’re ready.”
In 2019 and 2020, FASSET allocated more than R41-million for 945 learners to benefit from academic support and take part in the FASSET Bursary Scheme and Professional Body Designation programmes.
Mafuleka says she hopes that more students who graduate from this journey will consider the public sector as an employment option as the sector has great need of CAs(SA), their skills and moral compass.
FASSET’s support of Thuthuka is set to continue in the long-term, she adds. Going forward, the SETA would like to see a greater emphasis on assisting students who have graduated from TVET colleges. She also feels that significant benefits could be derived from formalising FASSET’s funding programme through the implementation of a memorandum of understanding with stated targets. “This would be sure to boost throughput,” she says.
BANK ON SUSTAINABLE PROGRAMMES
Authority (BANKSETA), which focuses on education and training in the banking sector, is another SETA that has contributed funds and supported the Thuthuka programme.
Mia Makhanya, chairperson of the BANKSETA’s board, explains that BANKSETA’s ambit encompasses other commerce-related fields too, including the information and communications technology and engineering fields, which is why there is strong alignment between its goals and those of Thuthuka. “Both entities are geared towards upskilling people so that they can contribute as economic agents, not only in the banking sector, but also in the greater economy,” she explains.
BANKSETA collaborated with Thuthuka, along with the University of Johannesburg, the University of Venda and the University of Zululand, in a multimillion-rand project, equipping the latter two tertiary institutions with the capability to offer a professional accounting science degree. This has helped to make education more accessible, paving the way for both Venda and Zululand universities to receive accreditation in 2018. “These institutions can now welcome learners wishing to study for an accredited BCom so that they can go on to qualify as CAs(SA),” Makhanya says. The number of students quick to take advantage of the universities’ new status is proof of the need for the programme: around 400 students enrolled in the University of Zululand’s accounting undergraduate programme following its accreditation. Furthermore, 37 students from the University of Venda went on to receive awards of excellence for their performance in various modules.
Although the four-year project came to an end in 2018, BANKSETA has continued to support strategic projects that have the potential to develop appropriate skills and is eager to do more work of this nature. Especially, says Makhanya, in areas where factors such as geography impede access to education and, by extension, industry transformation.
“We feel that partnerships such as this are critical. Skills development cannot be left to the government alone,” Makhanya concludes.
SAICA’s Gugu Makhanya notes that Thuthuka welcomes funds from all organisations within the profession.
Geography should not stand in the way of education - SAICA and BANKSETA celebrate accreditation at the University of Zululand.
“Both entities [Thuthuka and BANKSETA] are geared towards upskilling people so that they can contribute as economic agents, not only in the banking sector, but also in the greater economy.” – Mia Makhanya
For more information about Thuthuka:
011 621 660 17 Fricker Road, Illovo, Johannesburg gugum@saica.co.za www.saica.co.za
