Programme Director
Eastern Cape Premier, Noxolo Kiviet
Makana Municipality's Executive Mayor, Councillor Zamuxolo Peter
Principal of Kingswood College, Jonathan Trafford
CEO of the President’s Award for Youth Empowerment, Martin Scholtz
Ladies and gentlemen,
It gives me great pleasure to be part of such a prestigious occasion as this.
This occasion is extra special to me as it marks the first formal engagement I am attending as the Patron in Chief of The President’s Award for Youth Empowerment, since taking over the baton from former President Nelson Mandela in August last year.
I have on previous occasions been represented by the Minister in the Presidency, Collins Chabane, Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan and my political adviser, Charles Nqakula.
It is also fitting that my first engagement as a Patron in Chief takes place in Grahamstown, as Grahamstown is where the Award Programme was started 28 years ago.
It is even more significant to do so during the Nelson Mandela Week, which is recognised worldwide as a week of doing something good in honour of President Mandela.
As we meet today, let us remember what Nelson Mandela represented in our country; he represented unity as opposed to divisions, freedom as opposed to oppression, courage as opposed to submission.
These are the values he taught us through his life and example; he is an embodiment of all that is best about our country. This is a legacy that he has bestowed upon us, which we must protect and guard with our own lives.
After listening to the Award participants speak of their various experiences in the Award Programme, how their lives have been transformed since their involvement in the programme and the importance of such a programme, I was overwhelmed by what each of you had to say.
As young people you occupy a very significant and strategic place in society and communities.
At times, prevailing conditions such as the challenges facing South Africa’s youth require you to take a stand and actively map a path towards the future, which is what you have undertaken by being part of the Award Programme.
Last month, we commemorated 35 years of the 1976 Soweto Uprising.
The youth of 1976 should serve as an inspiration for you to be active agents of positive change.
Generation after generation the youth of South Africa has led this country towards achieving a common goal to benefit all; your generation is no exception.
Your involvement in the Award programme is confirmation of the level of commitment that you have, not only in your own development but in the country’s development as well.
You have committed yourself to development in four areas namely:
Physical recreation:
Where the Award encourages you to maintain a healthy lifestyle in both body and mind.
Skills development:
Where the Award encourages you to try out new things which could be a way of developing income-generation skills.
Community service:
Where the Award is encouraging you to step out of your comfort zones help others in need, sharing yourself with others.
The adventurous journey:
This Award encourages you to dig deep, as you hike through the mountains and valleys to test yourself in difficult physical circumstances.
In the words of Dr Kurt Hahn, - who is the German educationalist behind the development of the Award concept – who said: “When the mind is stretched by new experiences, it can never return to its former dimensions”.
Your involvement in the Award is designed to stretch you so that you are pushed, extended and developed.
I would like to encourage all of you to complete the level you are currently on, whether it be Bronze, Silver or Gold.
Once you have completed the last level which is Gold I urge you to keep connected with the Award through the South African Gold Award Holders’ Association (SAGAHA), like Nadine Bailey and Xolile Madinda, who are both here today, and continue giving back to The President’s Award for Youth Empowerment.
Your involvement in the Awards Programme has made you part of a much bigger Award Family.
There are 10,000 young people in the Award Family in South Africa and 850,000 young people like you in over 130 countries around the world, 25 of them on the African continent, who are actively involved in the Award Programme.
The work that Award holders before you have undertaken in making a difference in various communities should serve as an inspiration to all of you.
- Humairah Jassat who won the inaugural African Leadership Academy’s SA Innovation Award last year, for her Pink Hijab Day concept, spreading awareness about breast cancer in the Muslim community
- Ross McCreath who set up the Tiger Titans Cricket Team as part his Award Programme, in 2007 in Bathurst, 60km from here, which now boast 90 cricketers ranging from aged 7 to 23 and where 30 Tiger Titans have enrolled on the Bronze Level of the Award Programme
- Xolile Madinda, a community activist, who got his Gold in 1999 and who continues to work tirelessly in ensuring that young people from marginalised communities have a voice through poetry and hip-hop
- Tinashe Chandauka and Duncan Van Niekerk, both Gold Award Holders, joined 200 other young people in the Youth Parliament last month, to contribute to the robust debates of the day
- Chaeli Mycroft a disabled Gold Award participant from Cape Town who has set up the Chaeli Campaign to provide wheelchairs, standing frames, and computers for disabled people and to provide exercise therapy programmes for disabled people.
What makes these young people exceptional is their proactive approach to challenges.
An approach that is imperative in working together with government to overcome some of the challenges facing the youth.
The future of our country depends on us all, particularly young people, it is therefore imperative that you channel your energies towards positive initiatives such as the President’s Award for Youth Empowerment that will take our country forward.
Let us all work together towards the attainment of the total development of not only our country but for all South Africans, where all young people can realise and exercise their full potential.
To the volunteer Award Leaders, thank you for your significant and tireless support in the lives of these young people.
To the staff and trustees of The President’s Award for Youth Empowerment, thank you for your deep belief in the potential of our young people in South Africa and your commitment to developing social cohesion amongst young people of diverse socio-economic and cultural backgrounds.
I thank you all.
Source: The Presidency
