A CTING dean of the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s School of Arts Professor Nobuhle Hlongwa addressed scores of youth at the Msunduzi Museum on Friday to commemorate Youth Day which was on June 16.
Hlongwa reflected on the youth of South Africa, mentioning the youth’s importance to South Africa both presently and in the past. She spoke about the Soweto youth uprising and the role the youth had in liberating South Africa from apartheid.
“Youth Day takes places this year in conjunction with celebrating 100 years of Tata Madiba. Mandela said that it should never be that the anger of the poor should be the finger of accusation pointed at all of us because we failed to respond to the cries of the people for food, for shelter, for the dignity of the individual,” said Hlongwa, adding that the youth must help in any way possible to eradicate poverty in their future endeavours.
Hlongwa said UKZN’s School of Arts is internationally known for its vibrant displays and that they work closely with many top organisations.
“Our arts sector [is] composed of a range of disciplines such as media, English, visual and digital arts. The scope of careers that you can enter through our arts field is very wide.”
Hlongwa highlighted various enterprises that learners could get into should they wish to pursue the arts.
“The arts provide broad based benefits to anyone. Through the arts you gain additional knowledge and we implore you to take up many tasks, not just one,” said Hlongwa.
Before closing, Hlongwa highlighted that teenage pregnancy is a huge problem that the youth face and that radical solutions needed to be implanted in order to address this problem.