My early memories of reading Sowetan date back to 1990 when I was 16 years old and featured in the paper as Miss Soweto.

Seeing my picture on the cover was kind of surreal, as I grew up watching my father reading the daily. Even after retirement, he would buy and diligently read it on our "stoep".

As a child of the 1970s, the Sowetan I grew up reading was about "Nation Building" under Ntate Aggrey Klaaste. I was part of a generation of young people who were not expected to achieve much by the system of the past. Through hard work and determination, we were able to stand up against oppression and change the course of our personal history, and Sowetan was there to vividly document it all.

Apart from being the voice of a disenfranchised and misunderstood generation, the paper gave a different perspective from a media full of propaganda and segregation.

Sowetan continues to be the mirror we reflect our own lives in and a read we find inspiration from. It is an important source of information, current affairs and it's empowering. It says "black child, you can."

Congratulations to the Sowetan team, and here is to 35 more wonderful years!