A child holds a placard during a gathering in solidarity with Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) to celebrate the resignation of India's Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in Mumbai, as protests over the alleged NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) exam irregularities were called off. Pradhan resigned after mass youth-led protests demanded his ouster in anger over a string of irregularities in potentially life-changing exams.
THE uprising of young people in India is not simply about leaked examination papers. It is about a generation that believes the future has been stolen.
When public institutions no longer reward merit but privilege, when power is used to protect the powerful instead of serving the people, when corruption becomes ordinary and accountability disappears, the young eventually rise not because they seek conflict, but because they seek justice.
South Africa should listen carefully. We know what it feels like when public office becomes a pathway to private enrichment; when political parties become consumed by factional battles for power; when public resources are looted while millions remain unemployed, hungry and without hope.
We have witnessed the corrosion of institutions that generations sacrificed to build. But if we are honest, the crisis is deeper than government. It reaches into every level of society. It reaches the councillor who serves personal ambition before the community. It reaches the shop steward who forgets that leadership is service. It reaches the traditional leader who protects mining interests instead of the wishes of the people.
