Former Mayor of the East London-based Buffalo City Metro, Dr Sindisile Maclean has encouraged the youth to take their education seriously and to be wary of social ills.
Maclean has been interacting with the youth in a dialogue session at Ginsberg in King William’s Town in the Eastern Cape hosted by the Steve Biko Foundation.
The gathering was part of Youth Day celebrations.
Programme coordinator at the Steve Biko Foundation, Kholosa Tshandana says, “The purpose was to close the generational gap between the class of ’76 and the class of Fees Must Fall Movement. Our theme is ‘Then and Now.’ So, we wanted to bring the two generations together and open a platform for dialogue, for them to understand each other’s struggles in the liberation of the country,” says Tshandana.
Maclean, who was a learner at Forbes Grant Senior Secondary in Ginsberg during the 1976 protests, has praised the struggle waged by the youth during the apartheid era.
“Their involvement in the struggle is unquestionable. So, today their contribution to change South Africa is still welcome. Although the conditions have changed, the job is unfinished; the struggle is unfinished, because there are things that have not happened. So, the role of youth is still relevant, and I think now they still have a role to say ‘here we are now: so, what do we do to make South Africa better?” says Maclean.
