As much as we say that we “care” about the youth, we need to be honest about the current crisis that is facing them like the rise in unemployment, the social conditions that are preventing them from getting opportunities, the illegal substances like Nyaope sold on every township corner, crime, poverty, and even worse the burden of hopelessness that they carry around their shoulders. The high rate in unemployment has caused a widening inequality gap and the youth have suffered the most.
Khanya has started organising out of school youth through the Youth Network. The first meeting was facilitated by the director of the Jozi Book Fair, Dr. Maria Van Driel and attended by the various members of different organisations like Gauteng Civic Association (GCA), Orange Farm Advice Office (OFAO), Forum of Activist Journalists (FAJs). The network aims to connect youth and create social cohesion through interaction and discussing various problems facing youth and to come up with solutions that can manifest this network into a progressive movement.
The movement will encourage youth to read in order to better understand the world in which they live and to spread ideas. This can be done through building generic capacities for youth. The Network will address social issues imposed on youth by neo-liberalism through discussion and debate.
