As a young South African today, I live a very fortunate life. Although in my lifetime I didn’t experience the effects of apartheid, life for my generation is becoming increasingly difficult. This picture shows the democracy we are lucky enough to live in and is a symbol of how ‘colourblind’ we are in that we do not discriminate against people because of the colour of their skin.
As a young South African, although I am a person of colour, I do not suffer the effects of apartheid as much as many South Africans do because of the hard work and sacrifices made by my parents and so I am fortunate enough to receive a good education and live a comfortable life.
Throughout our lives we have been educated on apartheid, but it is difficult to understand the struggle because we didn’t experience it ourselves, and so I take for granted sometimes that we no longer live in that time period. Therefore I shall strive to make the most out of the opportunities I am presented with so as to lead the life my forefathers could not, due to the stunting circumstances of apartheid. South Africa has come a long way since 1994 but certainly has quite a distance to travel.
In terms of the results of The Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment, the government has succeeded in improving the lives of certain individuals who were previously disadvantaged during the era of apartheid but these people are now, even though they have gotten back onto their feet, still benefitting from this system while the rest of the previously disadvantaged people remain disadvantaged and are not given the opportunity to benefit from the system.
The Essay on My Life In The South By Jacob Stroyer
The Life of Jacob Stroyer Slave narratives are the personal accounts by black slaves as well as exslaves about their experiences of slavery and the struggles to obtain freedom. The slave narratives offer chronological incidents into an individual's experiences and they provide the audience with an understanding into the writer's mind and the structure of the slave society. Exslaves, like Frederick ...
As shown in the image above, this means that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Although certain boundaries have been removed along with apartheid, there are still many issues South Africa faces today: To begin with, our government is entirely corrupt. The majority of the schools in our country do not have the resources and equipment needed to properly educate students and yet our president is building a home worth R 250 000 000.
Julius Malema, another political figure, owes R 16 000 000 to SARS in unpaid taxes (and ironically enough his party is named The Economic Freedom Fighters) which raises the question of how much he earned to have built up that much in tax? Crime is a protruding issue, as we are met with the highest rates of rapes, murders, assaults and other criminal activities in comparison to other countries leaving us feeling unsafe even within our own homes.
The youth of today, more so are faced with the temptation and peer pressure of alcohol and drugs and without self-discipline can easily fall into that lifestyle. Unemployment is a serious issue in South Africa as it leads to people having to pay more tax to support all the unemployed citizens through the unemployment insurance fund as well as it resulting in crime. As a young South African there is no job security and even when it comes to university graduates, 5% of them end up being unemployed.
As it can be seen in the picture below, this poses as a serious issue for university graduates as they can’t get a job without experience but they can’t get experience without a job. As a young South African, I am privileged to live a comfortable, fortunate life but am still faced with the many issues prominent in South Africa. We as young South Africans are hoping that the government will make good on promises that were made 20 years ago and help alleviate the ever growing gap between the rich and poor and create a healthy middle class.
