ANC Chief Whip Mathole Motshekga has urged parents to give proper guidance to their children in order for them and the country to have a good future.

In his address during the Alfred Xuma memorial lecture, held at Mutale Town Hall on Sunday, Motshekga said ANC leaders had the responsibility to prepare children to be self-reliant.

"The challenge as we enter the second centenary of the existence of the ANC is to determine the thinking of Xuma and others when they started the organization. Xuma must be a good example to our youth. After qualifying as a teacher, he turned down the offer of a teaching position and went to the US to further his studies.”

Motshekga said that, unlike the youth of today, Xuma turned down an opportunity to get employment in his early life “and chose a path to empower himself with knowledge that would help him to be self-sufficient."

With the high number of school drop-outs in the country, Motshekga said it was worrying that many youths formed closed corporations and used the connections they had in government to get tenders. Most of these tenders are for things they outsource to Indians and other nationals as these youth can't manufacture anything on their own.

"There is a danger that this generation cannot do anything for themselves. If things continue like this, other people will take over our country and municipalities," said Motshekga.

He urged the youth of today to emulate the founders of the ANC who prioritised education, such as Chief Albert Luthuli, Xuma and others. "Xuma was also a Sunday School teacher. If you want to build good character in our children, volunteer at churches. We are neglecting our children. We are not imparting the right values to our children, hence we have this immorality problem," said Motshekga.

Motshekga also urged ANC members to vote for people with a track record within the organisation when they go to the Mangaung conference. He added that administrators were failing to deliver services to the people because they also wanted to be mayors. He said protest marches about service delivery were fuelled by a lack of political leadership.

"Xuma volunteered to work for free in clinics when he came back from the US because there was no money, but we demand a 25% increase, even when the municipality is bankrupt," he said, while adding that ANC members should stop discussing individuals within the party and discuss policies.

Xuma was president of the ANC from 1940 until 1949.