Mobilizing The X Generation
By Tebogo Mokgadi
BeCoCo, in partnership with Jireh Ministries International, Hope’s Pathway, and SistaBoss Academy & Company, held a civic youth workshop in preparation for the upcoming national elections in South Africa. Being in its second phase – the first being about voter registration – the aim was to engage the youth about the importance of voting, knowing the Constitution and its implementation, and also how to properly persuade those who’ve registered to head to their respective voting stations.
The first was in understanding the role that the Constitution plays with regards to governing our country. The Bill of Rights, chapter two in the Constitution, is Mzansi’s north star that rightfully guides elected leaders to implement people’s rights fairly, adequately, without prejudice. Secondly, Reverend urged attendants to probe into the functionality of governance. Legislation, though set in clear black & white, is only useful when put in practice. It is the right of every South African to know the governmental procedures in their regional, provincial, and national governments. For a government to be democratic it has to have integrity, transparency, and accountability. The last aspect is in voter mobilization. Putting it poignantly, Mr Sauls said that, “politics either happens to you or through you,” loosely conveyed—the ball is in your court. By mobilization, people can learn that their rights which are in the Constitution are fundamental to democracy and that understanding them gives them the freedom that no one can undermine.
Continuing the workshop was left in the hands of I Am SistaBoss. She introduced the three month engagement program as ‘The X Generation’ campaign with a punchy tag line that says ‘engrave change. Of those who are eligible to vote that are between the ages if 18 – 35 the IEC has found them to be among the highest that registered to vote. Piggybacking on the Reverend’s words, she not only demonstrated on the need for the youth to make an X, but through mobilization showed that by merging previous generations with the X generation they will realize the transgressions they faced thus marching with the others towards a new frontier.
Carrying the discussion, attendants – being a panel of young people – had to debate on the rights that are constantly violated which to them play a significant role in their lives as free South Africans. Rights to freedom of expression, privacy, housing & sanitation, education, belief & opinion among many others were deemed to be, if not suppressed, totally ignored. The responsibility that comes with practicing the aforementioned was not swayed away from. Given that rights such as freedom of expression & opinion can end up having negative effects on others, it is the responsibility of each person to not infringe on the next one’s dignity, making everyone’s safety a priority, without undermining their point of view.
Upon completion of the discussion and receiving a plethora of perspectives from the attendants, a simpler solution to the vastness of intel was presented. We can’t shy away from the fact that the Bill of Rights is meticulously detailed—this, with the ever shrinking focus among people, can lead to a loss of interest. A solution was to merge those that harbored similarities, having an endproduct that is holistic & altruistic to the youth’s concerns, and the essence of the Bill of Rights.
Collaborating with over 20 organizations w country-wide, BeCoCo’s mission of voter mobilization is but an arm’s length away. They are an apparatus that the youth will use to carry the baton from the class of 1976, leading into a new revolution that caters to the needs of the X Generation. In closing, SistaBoss said that for change to manifest in the physical, we first have to let it germinate in the mind.
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