AWAM MAVIMBELA
The insurrection of 1976, alongside various other episodes of violent dissent, was perceived as having been catalysed by disenfranchised youth advocating for enhanced educational opportunities.
They contended that the education they were receiving lacked the requisite components for successful employment, as evidenced by the 8.2% dropout rate.
Data regarding youth unemployment in South Africa commenced in 2000, reflecting an alarming figure of 53.5%, occurring six years after the establishment of democracy. This indicates that, during apartheid, the youth were also facing unemployment.
Apartheid policies in education for mixed-race individuals, including white people, produced professionals such as lawyers, educators, doctors, and businesspeople. Health skills were considered critical for employability, and education was viewed as key to success.
The medical officer ratios during apartheid were 1:330 for white individuals, 1:730 for Indian individuals, 1:12 000 for Coloured individuals, and 1:91 000 for African individuals.
This caused avoidable mental health challenges for Africans due to the scarcity of medical officers, exacerbated by the limited educational opportunities available to them.
Thirty years into democracy, the medical officer ratio stands at 1:3 198, with an estimated 800 unemployed medical officers, the majority of whom are Black, amidst a notable 58.7% increase in non-communicable diseases.
This disparity led to preventable mental health issues among Africans, exacerbated by the scarcity of medical officers and the limited educational opportunities available to them. Against this backdrop, health skills were deemed essential for employability by Africans.
As a result, there have been 62 395 premature deaths among young people and R23.6 billion in medico-legal claims. Such claims arise from various factors, including medical negligence, caused by issues such as high workloads and scarce resources.
These factors contribute to mental health disorders such as fatigue, anxiety, depression, thanatophobia, and apeirophobia. Medical negligence can lead to both disability and loss of life. Medico-legal claims highlight the impact of healthcare worker unemployment, the quality of services offered, and violations of people's rights.
Therefore, the phenomenon of unemployment constitutes an impediment to the ability of South Africans to access adequate healthcare, as enshrined in Section 27 of the South African Constitution, Article 16 of the African Charter, and Article 12 of the United Nations Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1966.
Furthermore, the creation of poor graduates undermines the intrinsic value of education, which was evident during apartheid among the middle class that produced middle-class professionals.
The youth revolution of 1976 was catalysed, among various factors, by the acknowledgement of the nature of professionals being produced by Bantu education, their resultant lack of employability, and the imperative for transformative change to secure a better life and escape the clutches of unemployment, which is intrinsically linked to the alleviation of poverty.
In conclusion, this situation evokes a sense of psychological suffocation akin to the Arab Spring and the recent 2024 youth insurrection in Kenya.
Awam Mavimbela is an academic from Walter Sisulu University affiliated with the Department of Social Work.
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