An entrepreneur I know likes to say "Mhlekazi, capital is not scarce out there; vision is".
This makes me think; if this man says capital is not scarce, then why are young people not getting into businesses or starting their own ventures? It is only logical that people exploit the resources they have, and many examples here include the mineral wealth we have; we all exploit those. Then why not with capital?
It is because we have a deep-conditioned fear that we will fail; that we are not adequate; that we could never become well-off if we don't work for a big establishment or government. Young people are conditioned - from school to church and home - and readied to serve one man or the other. Their education is centered around the idea that they must be "Employable" when they finish schooling.
This notion has created a culture of job-seekers which has become dangerous as the youth walk the streets aimlessly, hoping to be "Employed". This has a danger in that we always see in the news how protests have turned violent; how people are cruelly and ruthlessly harmed by "Job-less Youth" over a cellphone during frequent robberies taking place in our communities.
All of this is not happening because the youth decided to wake up one day and become a criminal, as the government would call them. These guys were prepared for nothing else but to be "employed" and when that did not happen, they turn to the government and ask "Where is the better life that was promised to us?" Then chaos begins.
The education system in South Africa should be different from systems adopted elsewhere in the world because our challenges here are not like those of other worlds. Here, poverty is a design and thus can be reversed, with the will of the people (forget the ANC and the DA and whoever else is out there). Educate the youth to be self-sufficient, self-reliant and teach them entrepreneurial skill which will enable them to see the endless opportunities which are out there.
So, encourage the youth to see beyond the little village of Mathysloop in Mpumalanga; beyond the dusty streets of Orange Farm. Harness the youth and mentor them. Share your experiences with them and tell them that indeed education is important, but self-sufficiency leads to life.
Young people must also remember to respect their ideas, for if this is not done, no idea will ever manifest. People must have respect for their own intellectual property, believe in it hard, work on it and share with people you trust. An idea that dies out in its infancy stages is not worth inception.
Young people must also learn to share. Give light to your ideas (read the parable of talents in some chapter in the Bible) Your ideas are worth celebrating when everybody knows of them and can benefit from them.
Mhlekazi is right; vision is scarce but this should not render us fearful because we can still cultivate the land for the attainment of this, then South African youth will be looked at with awe and wonder, not only for this victory but for many other past youth victories, like the 1976 Revolution.
So, let's roll up our sleeves, young people, and let's get working. Become your own hero and write your own His-Story because remember: For as long as the Oryx does not have a scribe, accounts of the hunt shall always favour the Hunter.
Write your story!!!
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