As we approach next year’s 50th anniversary of the June 16th Soweto uprising, in which the young people of the townships revolted against the apartheid education system and set the country on the road to eventual freedom, it is shocking to realise just how badly South Africa’s youth have fared in the years of democracy.

Depending on which measure one accepts, unemployment in the 15 to 24 age group is between 45 and 60 %. These figures trend upwards, not downwards— each successive cohort of young people is finding it harder to secure a job and generate an income; to begin a productive and fulfilling life.

But it is not just in the working environment that we have let them down. While we celebrate high matric pass rates in the field of education, we tend to overlook various negative aspects of our schooling system. To begin with, we have gradually reduced the standard of education, so that 40% in three subjects and 30% in a further two now counts as a pass.

Secondly, we ignore the tens of thousands of children who don’t make it to matric at all, falling out of the system at age 15 or younger. And thirdly, much of the curriculum does not equip students with the skills and knowledge they need in a modern economy.

Those who do get into university or college face further challenges. The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) seems to be in an almost permanent state of mismanagement, and those who do not qualify for its assistance face massive tuition fees. For many graduates, jobs remain elusive, rendering them unable to begin earning money to pay back their student loans.

In many parts of the country teenagers and young adults face pressure to join gangs or become involved in various other forms of criminality. When you have lost hope of getting a job and you lack a sense of confidence in the future, such temptations are hard to resist. Teenage pregnancy is often another symptom of a lack of faith in the future, as are drug and alcohol abuse and other dangerous lifestyle choices. And so, the list of challenges that our young people face daily, goes on and on.

In this Jubilee Year, when we are called to be Pilgrims of Hope, where do we start looking for hope? What signs of confidence can we offer our youth? Perhaps the most important one is based on their power to influence the future of our country. For all its faults, South Africa remains a democracy and elections allow us to change its political direction. For young people this is arguably more significant than for their elders, since they have more prospects and opportunities, and a longer life expectancy.

But perseverance and patience are of the utmost importance; political change is seldom immediate. It also takes a willingness to learn about different options, and an openness to policies and political leaders who might come from very different backgrounds and traditions.

There are some encouraging signs that our youth are overcoming some of the divisive factors of the past, especially racism and sexism. The more they can free themselves of the racial stereotypes and prejudices of the past, the greater the chance that they can help to build a united and stable country. That, in turn, will bring about economic benefits, more jobs, and general prosperity.

Young people also tend to have much greater environmental and technological awareness. Their world is in many ways smaller than it was for their parents and grandparents. Social media and advances in information technology give the youth, in particular, immediate access to a range of views, analyses and insights which should—in theory at least—enable them to deepen their understanding of the challenges facing the world (such as climate change and AI), and how these challenges can be met and transformed into opportunities.

Many of our country’s NGOs and civil society organisations, in both the religious and the secular spheres, have a specific focus on youth, offering them ways to apply their energies and talents to help not only themselves but those around them and indeed their wider communities.

None of this is easy, and, understandably, so many young people feel dispirited and helpless; at times, it must seem as if the future is bleak and unpromising. At such times, we should recall the 1976 generation which, in the face of apartheid and repression, refused to give up their hopes for a better future, and who –  two decades later – eventually won their freedom. (Mike Pothier. Programme Manager, South African Bishops Conference, Parliamentary Liaison Office, Cape Town)