Thabo Jijana, this week’s talented young South African, talks to Jennifer Platt about life, role models and breaking down barriers Thabo Jijana, 28, won this year's Ingrid Jonker Prize for his book Failing Maths and My Other Crimes. Currently completing his MA at Rhodes University, he won the Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Award in 2014.Jijana also wrote Nobody's Business, an investigation of the taxi industry, after his father was killed in taxi violence.What first set you on the path you're on today?Discovering I could laugh as a two-year-old after some cartoon character on TV did something comical/illogical like falling off a cliff and surviving. Taught me the value of not being too serious, of the danger of taking life too seriously.Because if this country's writers need anything right now, it's to learn how to laugh at the absurdity of our supposed democracy, to point out the absurdity, to write and engage it. Nothing else is more vital.story_article_left1What does being a young South African mean to you?Having a back that continually hurts because the weight of this country's unsolved problems is too heavy and no amount of cajoling from the dream-sellers (aka politicians, prophets, motivational speakers, celebs, et cetera) will help.Breaking down, instead of learning to live with, these walls of China we maintain between each other is about the only thing that seems useful to me. (I sell jackhammers on the side in case any of my peers want one.)Your favourite and least favourite things about South Africa?Least favourite would be how people in this country like to work in cliques (no matter where you look, we are too compartmentalised - the formal/informal economy, race, literature, music, sport, et cetera), something that makes it easy for us to accept, even celebrate, mediocrity, since the choices are so inherently limited.Favourite? Can't think of one now.What role does the youth in South Africa play now?You would have to tell me what you mean by "youth in South Africa"; there are so many of us, too different in our backgrounds and in the motivations that fuel our ambitions/wishes/dreams.story_article_right2About the only thing one can celebrate in the youth of this country is that they are starting to ask questions in ways that, though broad and not altogether for similar purposes, might just get this to point B. A shift is happening, in other words. Where the young are not so happy with the status quo. Slowly, but surely. For now, that's the job.Describe the South African youth of today in five words.A rainbow of a thousand colours. (I think that's six words, but hey, couldn't be helped.)How do you feel about your future in South Africa?I spend so much of my day worried about the present, the future will have to find a way to take care of itself.Do you feel like a role model to others of similar age? What positive message would you like to impart to them?No. Between finding enjoyment in my work or looking up to me as some kind of epitome of how to live, I choose the former. My work can at least be trusted. As for any positive messages I carry, if they are not in my work they are not important to mention here...