Actress and businesswoman Khanyi Mbau, who was recently announced as Comedy Central’s first African woman to be roasted, says that South Africa’s youth is not celebrated enough.
In a short chat with the A-list actor, she shared just how important Youth Day is to her.
“I think Youth Day is a very important day on the South African calendar. Our youth is not celebrated enough because we are always pressuring them so much about their future that they don’t have time to enjoy the present,” she said.
Mbau, who is a mother of one, says youth are constantly pressured into staying in school, getting good jobs thereafter and focusing on their dreams, that they don’t have time to enjoy just being young and free.
“We’re constantly telling young people to stay in school, to not drink and drive, to get great jobs, to focus on their dreams. But, I think this is just one day where we need to say ‘the future is beautiful and our youth is vibrant’. We should let them play piano, let them dance,” she said.
Mbau added that 364 days of the year the youth are constantly told to stay in line, but on the day that is for them, they should turn on the music and just live.
“We’re always telling them don’t do this, don’t do that, you better be this person, you better be that, stay in line, make sure your future is secure, make sure you know what you’re doing, so I really love June 16th because on this day our youth must be allowed to play music as loud as they want,” she said.