Download PDFYouth in Johannesburg–Every Saturday, on my way to work, I pass by a night club that opens only mid-night and close at 6 AM in the early morning and with lot of young people outside. Others are electronically requesting transport on their cell phones looking to go home, while others are busy pocketing small change leftover from the night drinking and yet others still are buying street food from vendors who are selling next to the main road opposite the club just mentioned, to make extra income for themselves.
It’s a gender mix of ladies and men, some of whom haven’t slept and are still drunk, and continuing to drink as one passes by the main road. Lot of cars are parking and idling, people are sleeping inside, tired, and probably want to be warm, that’s why the car is idling, covering themselves with their jackets just to get a peaceful sleep.
I asked one of those who were purchasing hot dogs, as I was also buying some sandwiches, and made a conversation about how they see this kind of lifestyle. Siphosethu Bango, 23 years old, working at a call centre around Johannesburg, said it’s fun for just moment of time and after all reality kicks in and sometimes it can be tiring for your body to always be partying, but they just want to have fun and forget all their worries that they have in these lives,
Her friend, Mbalentle Sibathu, said she doesn’t drink that much, she’s a bread winner at home, but sometimes she just goes out to unwind and connect with friends and the world. She emphasised that she’s worried about her generation and they are not really setting up a good example for the upcoming generation, even with their kids
28-year-old Sandile, says he parties because he doesn’t have to worry about anything as he doesn’t have responsibilities to take care off, whenever he wants to celebrate his hard-earned money as a young Entrepreneur, who is a content creator and videographer around Maboneng, as he puts it, he goes partying.
Sandile says that the saying, “show me your friends and I will show you your future”, is true because some of the decisions that he makes when going out for a drink are not all from him but some ideas are from those who he associate himself with, and in a lot of most times he ends up being in places that he didn’t plan to be in. Sometimes it is in places he did not even financially prepare himself for, the expenses that comes with the event are very costly for him.
This article is an opinion piece submitted on 29 June 2024. The views expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect those of Karibu! Online or Khanya College. You may republish this article, so long as you credit the authors and Karibu! Online (www.Karibu.org.za), and do not change the text. Please include a link back to the original article.
