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Take Up Opportunities

In everything, a son of the African soil.

Youth Day in South Africa has become a red-letter day on our calendar since 1976. This year is the 47th year of commemoration of that day when the youth took up the baton in the struggle for liberation. Almost half a century of placing youth issues on our national agenda still finds us as a society sorely lacking although some strides have been made. The theme for this year is “Accelerating youth economic emancipation for a sustainable future”.

Prof Russel Botman couldn’t have emphasised this very issue enough. He believed in the vision that the youth of our country bring to our development. On many occasions, he uttered something like the following sentiment: “My generation caused the hole in the ozone layer. You, the youth will have to fix it.” This sentiment is not only applicable to economic and environmental but broader societal issues. He believed that the youth can show communities and society the way to a better world. And it is this belief that moved him to establish the Russel Botman Bursary Fund at Stellenbosch University in order to afford deserving students bursary opportunities that can lead to occupying those economic spaces. Let us encourage and support the youth to consciously seek out those opportunities like applying for bursaries as well as the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention that introduced various youth development and empowerment initiatives.

The Russel Botman Bursary Fund invites you to become active in youth initiatives and also donate once off or continually so that students can study, qualify and take up positions in the workplace and society.