Madam Deputy Speaker, hon Members of Parliament and all esteemed guests, while the leaders of the liberation struggle were either imprisoned, exiled or silenced in some form or another, it was the youth who rose up and looked at apartheid with fearless eyes, faced the AK-47s and the bazookas with stones and rocks and decided to dedicate everything they had, including their lives, to fight for an equal voice on issues that affected their lives.
Today we bear the fruit of their struggles, and now we are able to enjoy the luxury of living in one of the best democracies in the world. We are also able to enjoy freedoms and rights, still unimaginable in some countries and societies.
We live in a country guided by one of the best constitutions in the world. Our freedoms are protected by a Bill of Rights second to none and we are undoubtedly a blessed generation.
With these freedoms intact, however, there is still a lot for us to work on. If our reality is anything to judge our future by, then this government has a lot of work on its hands to ensure that tomorrow's circumstances for our youth become better than the circumstances of today.
We live in a society where the flashing of bling-bling marks the entry into the role model world. We live in a society where our role models are people who disrespect our elders and the respective authorities. They are people who produce lyrics filled with hatred and who believe that flaunting what your mama gave you is the way to go.
The fight for democracy, principles and justice has turned into a fight for a tender, the fight to be a member of a board and the fight to fight others.
Through the various government programmes, our youth must be reminded that a bold and individual economic freedom empire starts with individual leadership. Our heroes and heroines of 1976 have laid the foundation for the youth of 2011 to be anything that they want to be.
From where must the youth draw their leadership qualities if we expect them to live up to the ideals of the youth of 1976 and constantly educate them on the country's history, on the one hand, but on the other, we expect them to turn a blind eye when they read of a Minister who lavishly spends government money on hotels and trips to Switzerland? We expect them not to pay any attention to reports of corruption, because in any event the government will still be studying the report!
We also expect them to behave in a dignified manner when some of their community members are being killed or being assaulted by members of the SA Police Service for taking part in service delivery protests.
Our youth is being presented with the idea that there is nothing wrong with wasting government's money, that the police must be feared irrespective of the circumstances and that economic freedom can be achieved, mainly through tenders.
If this government does not mainstream entrepreneurship in alignment with the ideals of the youth of 1976, then we will only be contributing to a youth that is dependent on the state. At the end of the day, we want to be proud of our youth by boldly declaring that they are true products of Nelson Mandela.
This is achievable if all of us show the youth that they are important to us for the emancipation of this country's economy. Thank you. [Applause.]