Buthelezi: Enemy has no name

2008-06-16 21:07

Johannesburg - Young people don't understand the value of being politically involved, president of the IFP Mangosuthu Buthelezi said on Monday.

He was addressing a crowd gathered to celebrate Youth Day at the Princess Magogo Stadium in KwaMashu.

"I fear that the youth who are going to the polling stations for the first time next year grew up in a South Africa so different from the one I and my generation grew up in, that they may not see the value of being politically involved," Buthelezi said.

There were so many young people today who had no political affiliation, he added.

There were countless more who didn't know the names of political parties, never mind what they stood for, he said.

"Some will vote for a party based on nothing more than a good slogan. Others won't vote at all.

"Yet if young people knew what politics is all about and why I say 'our struggle continues', I think we can have a generation of involved and inspired youth, Buthelezi said.

Some still missing out

The reality was that, after 14 years of democracy, SA still couldn't boast that a better life for all had been achieved.

In some instances, the country had gone backwards, he said.

"Food prices are skyrocketing. Electricity supply is unstable. Fuel costs are exorbitant and rising fast.

"Criminality is rampant. Jobs are scarce. For many, houses are still unaffordable.

"Education is not up to scratch. During the apartheid era, school children were exposed to intimidation and violence by the police.

Today, school children experience intimidation and violence in their own classrooms from their own teachers and classmates."

Buthelezi said that gang activities, bullying, sexual abuse and harassment were common in schools today.

"It is almost as if the fight of yesterday has evolved into a beast with no name.

Can't name the enemy

"Yesterday, we called the beast apartheid. We could label it, identify it and fight hard against it ... but today, we can't name our enemy. It is pervasive and multi-faceted."

Buthelezi also condemned the recent acts of xenophobia in the country.

He added that SA had forgotten what Youth Day was all about.

" ... We have begun to forget what Youth Day is about and why we must remember the blood that has been shed in this country. We do it so that no more blood need blemish our soil," he said.

"We do it so that we will remember the cost of our liberty and the value of our political enfranchisement."

- SAPA