The rainbow nation that former president, Nelson Mandela, worked so hard to achieve appears to have been stalled, according to today’s youth.
As the country commemorates Youth Day on 16 June, many young people have expressed anger, gratefulness and disillusionment with the current state of South Africa. Third-year political science student, Ruth Masimola, 20, says that a new Black consciousness is “alive, well and angry”. “The mock idea of a rainbow nation is just that. An idea. There is a lot of anger in our generation. They want more ‘I am sorry’ from the younger generation of Whites who so obviously, if unintentionally, have benefited from apartheid. Their voices are being heard, their anger is only being shared because of what was achieved by Nelson Mandela and his generation before they were born,” she says. The strongly-opinionated student went on to say that there is a generational shift and a lot of young Black people feel that the difficulties they are experiencing are not being dealt with effectively.
Accountant, Thembankosi Sibisi, 27, has a different opinion. “I grew up post-apartheid and I am now an accountant and photographer in my spare time. If we had not gained democracy in 1994, perhaps I would have been a gardener but definitely not an accountant. I am not angry – I am thankful that I am born free and able to live freely,” said Sibisi. Sibisi believes that South Africa has the potential to develop like the United States and truly be a country of many races. However, Samantha Cronjè, a 23-year-old ballet dancer says that racism is alive and well, but coming from the Black community. “I feel as if the born-free generation has carried the hatred of their forefathers. As a young White lady, the level of racism that I experience on a daily basis can be overwhelming at times. Just because I am White, I get called names like ‘boere meisie’ and asked why am I not walking barefoot or speaking Afrikaans. A lot of the generation is angry because of the apartheid regime that was abolished long ago. It is sad that I get labelled a racist just because of my skin colour. I feel as if Youth Day should not even be celebrated because it is just a painful reminder of the past; and unforgiveness and anger settles in more and more,” she said. Cronjè says that because of this, she is looking into relocating to Australia once the Covid-19 pandemic is under control.
