In these desperate and challenging times, it is instructive to hear the optimism and spirit of young voices, children fighting for a quality education and a better future.
Recently, we were privileged to be involved in the launch of the first congress of Equal Education in a dusty hall in Tembisa. Delegates have arrived from the Western Cape, Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and elsewhere. They will be debating at the University of Johannesburg and Soweto, as they create a new social movement to serve their needs and advance the demands of the poor and excluded.
While Anglican Archbishop Thabo Makgoba called for a new vision for the future, and Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi challenged the basis of a discriminatory economic system, it was the young voices that truly inspired. A young Grade 11 learner from Tembisa acknowledged her parents and siblings in the front rows of Sam Hlalele Hall and told us her story. Why is she so optimistic, given the poverty and unfair inequality she faces?
