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“The most important part of leadership is the leader themselves. You cannot lead other people if you do not have the motivation to lead yourself well.”
It is with these powerful words that motivational speaker and leadership consultant Johnny Philander encouraged young people attending the official opening of the 18th Sondeza Afri-Youth Camp on Wednesday evening (6 December) to become red-jacket leaders.
The camp is an initiative of the Swartland Municipality, with sponsors ABSA and the West Coast District Municipality, which aims to bring youth leaders together and develop leadership qualities under the guidance of camp facilitators, provided by ABSA.
This year’s group of 50 who attended include learners from schools in the West Coast and other parts of South Africa as well as representatives from Germany and Namibia.
In his keynote address Philander spoke on the topic of red-jacket leadership in the age of darkness, encouraging the group to become red-jacket leaders who are willing to stand out, be noticed while they achieve great things, at the same time serving the people without drawing attention to themselves.
“Red-jacket leaders walk through doors with a sign saying no admittance. They create access for people who did not have access earlier,” he inspired them before the start of the camp, which concludes on Friday 15 December.
Philander shared with them three important ingredients they will need to move ahead and lead their communities, schools and families in times of uncertainty.
“As a leader you need a red jacket. Secondly, as a leader we need to start playing our tune out instead of what everybody else tells us, and lastly every leader that is a red-jacket leader must have the ability to stay fresh.”
He went on to share the meaning behind the acronym; a great leader stays [F]ocused on the [R]elationship, [E]nergy management, [S]timulation and the number of [H]ours you are willing to put into your relationships, life and activities.
He added: “Red-jacket leaders focus and invest in the most important relationships in their lives. I know so many young people who made the choice to be unemployed and uninvolved. Red-jacket leaders do things differently, they engage in doing activities that increases their energy as a leader. What you are doing now should be something that gives you a boost, that gets you going. Anything that reduces your effectiveness as you lead must be eliminated as soon as possible.
“As leaders if we are not stimulated enough and take on new things all the time, it means that we become stale. The older we get the less we want to go outside of our comfort zone. Red-jacket leaders who are fresh find new things, new ways to get themselves going again.”
Philander told the young leaders to use this week to meet new people and connect with other leaders.
“[...] that will blow your life up again in a positive sense. I want to encourage you to enjoy the camp, the interaction with other people, making new friends but, most importantly, for this week and for the upcoming year 2024 put on your red jacket. Secondly, play your own tune and finally stay fresh.”
As Sondeza translates to “Zoom in” in Xhosa, Swartland Mayor Harold Cleophas in his speech encouraged the young leaders to use the camp to zoom in on their life as the youth of this country.
“The foundation of any nation is dependent on the development of our youth,” he said.
“Use this opportunity to learn as much as you can and benefit from this youth leadership programme to go out in your communities and make a difference. You can change the world, change your town, your neighbourhood with all your ideas, actions and voice. Learn, have fun and enjoy the beautiful South Africa, the beautiful Western Cape, but most of all the beautiful Swartland on the West Coast. Welcome!”
Among the esteemed guests were also MEC for Local Government Anton Bredell, who knows first-hand the valuable insight the camp has to offer young leaders as one of his sons attended the camp a couple of years ago when still at school.
He applauded the Swartland Municipality for investing in the youth, leaving the group with the following message: “What I want you to take away from such an event is to understand our strength lies within our diversity. You’re a diverse group, so there will be diverse allegiances, diverse backgrounds and so on, but diversity is a strength. You must just recognise that and build on that, and if you can get that right you will take our country to the next levels as well as your towns.”
He encouraged learners to allow each other the space to be who they are meant to be.
“That doesn’t mean you need to change. We must just respect the other person and allow them to be the best they can be and, hopefully, during this camp also learn those kind of lessons.”
Bredell said with the unpredictability the world faces today, “we never know what life will bring to our shores.”
In the midst of factors such as climate change, social media, artificial intelligence and the fast moving world we live in Bredell added the youth needed to be prepared and keep up.
“The future and future challenges are in your hands so the investment in the youth is the right thing to do, and I really hope you will use this opportunity to enjoy this camp, but also to learn from one another, from the different cultures, learn to respect yourself and your fellow participants.
“Use your curiosity to ask questions and engage with one another. Lastly, looking back, I think the thing most adults regret is the opportunities not pursued, so pursue opportunities. Make your mistakes, there is nothing wrong with this, as long as you learn from them.”
West Coast District Deputy Mayor Sandra Crafford told the youth to focus on learning specialised communication skills to be able to learn how to communicate, especially with different cultures.
“Seeing these fresh faces I know our future is going to be fine.”
