2019 Youth Month
2019 marks the 43rd anniversary of the June 16, 1976 youth uprising, where young people were protesting unjust policies implemented by the apartheid government. At the launched of MRM in 2002 at the Waterkloof air base delegates from all 9 provinces identified youth as one of the pillars that MRM should focus on. The youth are the ones who bear the brunt of moral decay. They are often perceived as agents of immoral behaviour or helpless victims who need some external intervention. They themselves decry the lack of role models and opportunities for right living.
Development of ethical leadership in students is a process of transformation that requires able leaders to tale it forward. Student leaders are and should be perceived as role models to their fellow students and should therefore be persons of integrity, and good examples, who themselves continually aspire to set the standard for ethical and values driven leadership.
It is against this background that the Moral Regeneration Movement has embarked on a campaign to have conversation with student leaders in institutions of higher learning throughout the country. The purpose of these conversations which will be in a summit version is to address the following issues amongst others:
- Violent students protest which end up in the destruction of property of the institution
- Abuse of women in institutions of higher learning
- Abuse of alcohol and drugs in campuses
- Development of ethical student leaders
MRM Month Rationale
MRM Month is a month where the Moral Regeneration Movement calls on the Nation – all South Africans and all those who live within our borders - to take stock of our lives to celebrate the good, acknowledge the hard work that is done by men and women moral regeneration practitioners as well as all those who have dedicated their lives to doing good; individuals, organisations or institutions, who promote positive values and work towards strengthening and enhancing the building of a moral, just and humane society.
July was chosen as MRM Month for the following reasons:2019
- It is the month in which the Charter of Positive Values was formerly adopted at a ceremony held at the Waterkloof Air Force Base endorsed by the then Deputy President of South Africa, the Hon Ms Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka as Patron of the Moral Regeneration Movement. The event was attended by about 3000 South Africans from all walks of life, especially those that had been part of the consultations of the formulations of the Charter: civil society, academia, business, labour, political parties, Faith Based Organisations, Women, Youth formations and other stakeholders.
- It is the birth month of Former President Nelson Mandela who convened the first Moral Summit to discuss the spiralling moral decay that was becoming pervasive in our country.
It is also to give time and space for all South Africans to reflect on the state of the nation regarding our moral and ethical behaviour and to encourage one another to aim to improve for the sake of attaining a sustainable moral, just, humane, stable and prosperous nation.