Different struggle, same fight.

By: Nomzamo Thukwana

 Current social issues confronting young people are very different from the educational concerns which made thousands march through the streets of Soweto in 1976.
Today’s teens and twenties however need to use the same drive and determination to overcome drug abuse and lack of opportunity. Soweto high school principal, Mr Zacharia Mogami, who took part in the 1976 protests, said today's learners have completely different challenges from those which Soweto learners fought for in 1976. “The struggle for young people today has to do with the liberation of the mind and becoming assertive in order to conquer,” said Mr Mogami. 

 He said drugs were an escalating problem which destroyed many young people's lives at schools. “Learners need to make up their minds and take drastic decisions about their future. It seems like young people are no longer driven to achieve things in life and as a result they squander their future on bad decisions. They also need to understand the bill of rights for them not to abuse their rights,” said Mr Mogami. 

 Drug abuse among the young is in the spotlight as a result of the heart-rending appeal from mothers in Eldorado Park, south of Johannesburg, to President Jacob Zuma to address this scourge. In a letter to the president, parents said: "The purpose of this letter is to inform you of the critical and dying state our children are in. Drugs had taken over our children's lives. We no longer get together to boast about the achievements of our children but rather to share our lives of living hell and despair. Dad, we need you to help us mothers save our children." 

 “Our young people need to stand for what they believe and know when to say NO! to peer pressure and other things that prevent them from acquiring more and more education. In 1976 the struggle required guns and petrol bombs. It liberated my mind to realise that a pen is a mightier weapon than a sword,” said Mr Mogami.