Julius Malema Drops Another Revelation about the ANC
EFF leader Julius Malema says the ANC-led government has betrayed the dreams of young people in South Africa.
Malema was speaking at the Onkgopotse Tiro Memorial Lecture at the University of Limpopo on Thursday. He lamented the high rate of youth unemployment and the living conditions most young people in the country endure.
“You watch people with political connections receiving opportunities while you remain unemployed, you watch tenders being awarded to the connected while your own small business is struggling to survive, you watch billions disappear through corruption while you are told that there is no money for education, no money for accommodation, no money for youth development and no money for employment.
“There is a young person in this country [who] stopped applying for jobs because rejection has become so routine that they no longer expect a positive response; there is a young person who no longer believes that their qualification will change their life because they have watched graduates remain unemployed for years,” said Malema.
Challenges facing South African youth
Malema described the challenges facing South African youth as a political crisis.
“When hope is systematically destroyed, you do not simply become unemployed; you become alienated from society, you begin to withdraw from politics, you begin to believe that elections are meaningless, that politicians are all the same, that participation cannot change your circumstances,” he said.
Malema said because of these challenges, young people have turned to drugs, alcohol and crime while some become depressed.
“Some leave the country because you no longer believe South Africa has a future for you, and others remain here, but they are psychologically defeated. We must not condemn you without first asking what society has done to you. You have been told that your time will come. But for millions of young people every year that passes is another year of unemployment, another year of debt, another year of dependence and another year in which potential is wasted,” he said.
Call to action by Malema
Malema encouraged young people to be courageous and become more active in fighting against systemic injustice and oppression.
“You must learn that the first victory of the oppressor is to convince the oppressed that they are powerless. From 1976, you must learn that fear cannot be allowed to determine the limits of resistance and from Fees Must Fall you must learn that even in a democracy you must continue to organise when institutions reproduce exclusion,” he said.
He said the EFF exists to represent the struggles of young people. Malema encouraged all youth to attend the 13th anniversary celebrations of his party in Thohoyandou on Saturday. He also encouraged them to register to vote in the upcoming local government elections.
