RECTOR’S OFFICE
Dear Student
June was Youth Month and who
better to embrace and celebrate this
than young adults like yourself.
What does Youth Month mean to
you? When I think about the youth,
a bridge comes to mind. I believe
that the youth of today represents a
bridge between the perils of yesterday and the opportunity of tomorrow.
In short: you represent the backbone of our nation! Having said this,
I also believe that older generations
should view this time of the year as
a time to motivate and guide the
younger generations – be it as role
models or mentors. Unfortunately
this is not always the case.
We ought never to underestimate
the importance of the youth. The
American actress and singer – and
Youth Champion of the United Nations, Monique Coleman, was once
quoted saying: “Our focus doesn’t
have to be on changing the whole
world, just changing our world.” Take
a minute to think about this.
zenry, pride and patriotism in our
country and its heritage as well as
an indomitable hope for a better
future. For many of our youth who
were born during the two decades of
democratic freedom in our country,
the elections provided a powerful
reminder of how citizens can pool
their collective power to make a difference to our country. We ourselves
own the power to build the South
Africa we want to see by 2030.
Young people are a critical
force in this. You have the
enthusiasm, vibrancy,
courage and spirit to do
things differently, to make
changes that will bring
a better life for the
millions of our people.
In South Africa we have
people like Mandla Maseko who will
be the first black South African astronaut and Siya Xuza who has had
a minor planet named after him by
NASA based on his ground breaking
work. A little piece of South Africa
lives in space through the planet
named Siyaxuza.
Across the world – and also in South
Africa, the youth is rising up against
existing political regimes; they are
fighting for jobs, social justice,
freedom of expression and above
all democracy. The youth share
one common denominator, namely:
solidarity. Did you know that the
world population of 15-24 year olds
represents more than a billion? That
is, a billion hopes for a better future,
more than a billion ideas to change
the world in constructive ways and
more than a billion potential solutions to the problems of today. As
you are reading this you are reinventing culture and recreating how
we relate to each other.
We may not know what active
citizenship is as a concept but when
we look at people like Siya Xuza
and Mandla Maseko, we realise that
the meaning does not matter. What
matters is that these inspiring young
people have done what they could,
when they could with the resources
they could! They were excellent
at what they needed to do in their
respective fields and soon enough,
they received the recognition and
accolades that they deserved. However, this is not the end for them. We
will yet hear of their contributions
to South Africa in particular and the
world in general.
The recently held elections in South
Africa once again shone a spotlight
on the importance of active citi-
This is the spirit that must drive
the implementation of the National
Development Plan which recognises
the role young people can and must
4 - Student 24/7
play in South Africa’s development.
No one said this would be easy.
Young people today are battling every day against the obstacles of poverty, unemployment, climate change,
restricted access to education and
even health care. This is where the
older generations must step into the
fold. How can we expect the leaders of tomorrow to participate fully
in creating the future, when they are
excluded from the debates and the
decision-making forums? We must
help them and support their ambitions.
As you go forth on your journey, remember to always play your part in
your individual spaces. Do what you
can, where you can, when you can
to make your home, community and
country, safer, happier, prosperous
and fulfilled.
* Sadly, this month we – as a campus community, had to say goodbye
to several students. It is always sad
when young lives come to an end
since it marks the loss of great potential. As a campus community we
recognise these fallen students.