The event, presented in partnership with the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung and facilitated by the KwaZulu-Natal’s Democracy Development Program, was held on the University’s North Campus on Wednesday, 11 February.
Under the theme Unpacking Democracy: Participation, Good Governance and Constitutionalism, speakers delivered a frank but constructive assessment of the country’s democratic project 36 years after Nelson Mandela’s release from prison.
Panellists, from left, Olwam Mnqwazi, Noluthando Honono, dialogue facilitator Sphamandla Mhlongo, Athenkosi Nyiki and Dr Adelaide Karomo; Youth Dialogue facilitator Sphamandla Mhlongo - Images: Gillian McAinsh
Pan-African activist Dr Adelaide Karomo, who has served the University’s Transformation Office, set a challenging tone, asking how many young people believed their qualifications would guarantee dignified work. Fewer than ten hands went up in the audience which consisted predominantly of high school learners.
“That chasm between education and opportunity is not an accident,” she said. “It is a political choice.”
Dr Karomo questioned whether constitutional promises were translating into lived realities, citing South Africa’s staggering youth unemployment figures, failing infrastructure, disaster management failures and persistent inequality.
“If democracy is not serving the majority, who is it serving?” she asked.
Kariega Youth Development Centre co-founder Athenkosi Nyiki focused on practical solutions, urging stronger partnerships between universities, TVET colleges and township schools. He called for regular career guidance outreach and better access to funding information, arguing that “the Constitution is our document” and that communities should take responsibility for making it work.
St Stithians College educator Noluthando Honono – who studied at Nelson Mandela University – spoke out on how civic participation went far beyond the ballot box. She urged that accountability and mobilisation become everyday practices.
“Active participation doesn’t always require a mass movement. Sometimes it simply means refusing to keep quiet in the moment,” she said. Honono also highlighted structural inequalities in education, noting stark differences in resources between public and private schooling: “Agency is a luxury.”
Entrepreneur and author Olwam Mnqwazi offered a counterbalance, saying the country’s new democratic dispensation created access that had enabled many young South Africans, including himself, to escape poverty.
“Had it not been for the democratic dispensation, some of us would have been devoured. It gave poor young people somewhere to run.”
While acknowledging deep systemic failures, Mnqwazi cautioned against ditching a constitutional democracy in favour of authoritarian alternatives.
CANRAD director Prof Bheki Mngomezulu framed the discussion against the backdrop of South Africa’s evolving political landscape, encouraging young people to ask whether the democracy which 1994 seemed to bring did in fact align with present realities.
He also cautioned against the use of the term government of national unity. “We are mistaken if we call it that, it is rather a multi-party coalition government.”
Questions from school learners and university students underscored the urgency of the conversation, with participants probing participation, leadership accountability and the future of constitutional governance in the country.
Facilitator Sphamandla Mhlongo, from the Democracy Development Program which empowers citizens, communities and civil society to take part in politics and governance, put the afternoon’s discussions into context.
“There’s a yearning for young people in particular across the continent about redefining what it means to be democratic. Some of the yearning ends up giving us glimpses into potential dictatorships – some people want to call them benevolent dictatorships, but they are dictatorships nonetheless.
“We need to ask more of the people we hand power to – and be prepared to take that power back through accountability.”
By convening activists, educators, entrepreneurs and young people in one space, Nelson Mandela University positioned itself not only as an academic institution but also a forum for civic engagement. The Youth Dialogue gave participants the chance to ask difficult questions about democracy, and invited the next generation to shape the answers.