Originally published on Integrity Icon
By Tsholanang Rapoo
On Friday, 13 November Accountability Lab hosted their second Conversation Lab, on youth activism featuring panellists Shaeera Kalla, Kokoetso Moeti, and Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng. The panel was moderated by Dr Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh.
The discussion tackled topics such as inequality, youth unemployment and university activism.
Koketso Moeti, Executive Director of amandla.mobi, warned against “rockstar activism”.
“It is tempting when one is organising… to think that one’s self, and one’s movement, and one’s organisation is at the centre of the world,” she said.
“Rockstar activism”, caused by competition for visibility, weakens the effectiveness and staying power of the youth voice, she said.
“What makes us move forward and what pushes us to the centre is our ability to work collectively,” she added.
Moeti proposed that South Africa needs a social change ecosystem, with multiple vantage points, to inspire greater governmental accountability.
Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng’s, University of Cape Town Vice-Chancellor, said that youth voices are amplified when students come together around one issue.
“I find that, in 2015, students were united around one issue. So, the activism was issue-based, it didn’t matter what political movement you belong to,” she said.
Professor Phakeng pointed out that political parties often dilute the youth voice because of political competitiveness for visibility, space and recognition.
“I mean, if you think about the situation with Uyinene last year, I mean, again that’s where I saw students come together. [It was about] Gender Based Violence; they didn’t disintegrate into parties,” she added.
Moderator and author of Democracy and Delusion: 10 Myths in South African Politics, Dr Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh asked about government participation in validating youth movements.
“One would imagine that there would be political mobilisation explicitly to deal with the disproportionate effects of this crisis of governance and our economic malaise… Have we dropped the ball in failing to coordinate across class, gender, race around these mutually shared crises, […] beyond protest?”
Responding to this, former Wits SRC President, Shaeera Kalla—who was at the forefront of #FeesMustFall—said “it’s not about dropping the ball. It’s about understanding how difficult it is to do that”.
Kalla analysed the threats to youth activism in South Africa, on and offline, saying; “… when the youth expresses their voice, it’s swiftly dealt with. And it’s often seen as a threat to the status quo.”
Moeti suggested that global examples of youth activism could inspire young South Africans: “Over the last couple of years, we have seen the power of the ideological numerical push of young people, masses of young people across the continent, across the world. And this has been able to affect significant changes.”
“Just because we do not see it, doesn’t mean it is not there,” she added, nothing that we are seeing young people push back “over and over, consistently, particularly in the last couple of years, not uniquely to South Africa, not uniquely to this continent.”
These young people are pushing “back on decisions that are being made by people who will not live with consequences there off,” said Moeti.
However, Moeti suggested that “youth” are not a “homogenous mass”.
In conclusion, Professor Phakeng said: “There is a time for rhetoric. And then there is a time to do something else. And I, I think when we say we are not seeing youth activism sometimes, people mean that they are not seeing protests.”
Watch the discussion here:
Tsholanang Rapoo 