Young leaders in 21st Century South Africa ^Featured

Avexing question: What does it or should it mean to be a young leader in South Africa today?

The SAWIP ‘Washington Process’ (i.e. the culmination of everything that took place during the five-week stretch and the time spent amongst a group of spectacular human beings in every sense of the word) made apparent a political leadership-tree of sorts, which lends definition to what a young leader should possibly encompass in the context of New South Africa. My interpretation can be broken down roughly into five branches, which are by no means completely comprehensive or exhaustive.

1. Cognizance of the past

Not a single inhabitant of this beautiful land can deny their inheritance and choose to view him or herself as independent of the past. An individual’s history, relative privilege and present reality are, inexcusably or irretrievably, a function of the past. For the sake of South Africa, young leaders must have a firm grasp on the general history of our country, as well as their individual history. It is important how this history plays out in various ways within the country we occupy today, so many years later, especially considering race and class based challenges. An understanding and ability to narrate this history, and how it ties in with the future, appears a necessary trait.

2. Awareness of the present

South Africa, as any country, has an enormous body of government policy, planning documentation and related activity. Any young leader should make his or her best effort to understand these, their histories and implications. The future South Africa will need leaders who have a global vision. These visions are shaped in our youth and thus, we should make it our conscious mission to actively consider ourselves within the wider world context and consider world developments in the policy arena.

3. Examples of leadership

Young South Africans are immensely privileged in this regard. We come of age in an environment that produced not only four Nobel Prize-winning leaders, but also a number of other globally revered icons. Very few nations offer their young this opportunity and we should make every effort to read and learn about these individuals. Many of their accomplishments speak to the greater good of humanity and it is through their acts that most of the world still views South Africa. There are vast video tracts containing interviews and speeches by prominent global leaders all over the Internet; in this space a young mind can absorb the ideas and principles that shaped the modern world, spanning almost an entire century.

4. Reading, learning and writing

Future South Africa requires its leaders to be smart and knowledgeable, given we are facing a far more complicated, globalized world. Even at present, however, one cannot ignore the importance of learning how to write, communicate and learn effectively as a prerequisite in a leadership endeavor. A thirst for knowledge and understanding seems paramount or even tantamount to success. Also, future generations are going to rely on what is written today in understanding the ‘past’. We have a responsibility to establish a youth narrative and story, for ourselves as we grow and progress, but also to capture the essence of our time in our own words for future generations.

5. Real optimism for the future

We grow up in one of the most diverse countries on the planet and we have a very recent and real legacy of overcoming odds – both of these factors are great contributors to our resilience as a nation and form a prime basis from which young minds can construct a new future. The optimism must be founded, sincere and rooted in fact, as well as aspiration and hope. Given the pressing challenges we face, such as endemic corruption, a slow pace of transformation and relatively slow economic growth, this optimism must also be practical in its thinking. We ought to be thinking about how we can tackle these head on, while moving into the future. In knowing our history, and ourselves, we should interrogate the ideas of older generations relentlessly so as to find an optimal path towards successful development.

I have come to arrive at the belief that the latest generations of young South Africans will take this country to places where not even the 'founding fathers' of '94 could have imagined. There is no lost generation here; those who make mention of it have been looking in the wrong places.