- Celebrates the strength, guidance, and resilience of women across generations, their role in shaping society, and the lessons they impart.
- Highlights the importance of teaching children respect, self-control, pride, and dignity in both private and public life.
- Warns against raising a generation that disregards values, decorum, and the norms of our country.
As I write this on the eve of my birthday, I find myself reflecting on the launch of the National Dialogue held at Unisa’s Muckleneuk Campus from 15 to 16 August 2025.
The gathering was a powerful moment, unfolding in the heart of Women’s Month, a time when we honour the mothers, grandmothers, sisters, and daughters who have shaped, and continue to shape, the soul of our nation. It is a celebration of the strength, determination, resilience, and guidance that women have passed down across generations.
In isiZulu, we call it imimba, a profound sense of compassionate emotion, a mother’s love. Yet I wonder, what has become of imimba when we groom our children to address the elderly with disrespect, both in private and on public platforms? What has happened to mothers who, despite intuition and experience, fail to caution their children that disrespect can put them in danger?
And yet, paradoxically, we expect our children to show respect to us as mothers. What has happened to mothers who misguide their sons and daughters into disregarding fathers, uncles, grandfathers, and male figures, both privately and publicly? Is this the South Africa we claim to be proud of?
A generation at risk
We are raising a generation that too often disregards the norms and laws of our country, hoping for a brighter future. Our forefathers must be turning in their graves at the decay they witness. We no longer correct our children when they address elders by their first names, simply because these elders are public figures. We have normalised aggression, frustration, and disrespect as acceptable ways to make one’s voice heard in public spaces. But what is the point of being heard if the message is lost amid emotion and a lack of decorum?
The applause and admiration that greet such behaviour only mislead these children. Behind closed doors, many whisper that they “would never want their children to behave like this, this generation has no respect for authority,”
Potential and consequences
Being present at the launch, I saw children with immense potential, capable of pursuing any career they desire. Yet, without self-control and respect, that potential may turn to bitterness, as they grow resentful of peers who are achieving and innovating. One day, they may wonder what happened to the fame and admiration they received at the National Dialogue, as journalists interviewed them, filmed them, and captured their every step. That attention, and the admiration, will have dissipated, shifting to those children who invented tools to report crime, developed self-driving wheelchairs, or designed electronic walking sticks for the blind or elderly.
A call to action during Women’s Month
As Women’s Month continues, let us recommit to teaching our children the values of respect, self-control, determination, pride, and dignity. When we do, Mother Earth, and our nation, will surely respond in kind.
Conviction.co.za
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