Programme Director
Deputy Minister in the Presidency, Mr Buti Manamela
Chairperson of the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA)
Commissioners of NYDA present
Invited guests
Members of the media
Ladies and gentlemen
Today marks another milestone in our country's long journey to youth empowerment. As already mentioned, we are here to launch the 2014 Youth Month. Through this event, government at all levels will be, once again, galvanising and focusing its energies and resources on matters pertinent to youth empowerment and development.
As you are well aware, our country faces the triple challenges of inequality, joblessness and poverty and it is no exaggeration to state that our youth, as a sector, bear the most brunt of these ills. Whilst significant progress has been made in putting in place measures like mainstreaming youth issues within government programmes and also increasing higher education funding to mitigate these challenges, much still needs to be done to ensure that our youth feels part of our country and are proud of their South Africanness.
It is against this backdrop that every June, the government of South Africa focuses its activities on youth related matters to mark the anniversary of the June 16 Uprising. This year, as always, the Department of Arts and Culture (DAC) has been assigned by cabinet with the responsibility of coordinating the Youth Month and Day in partnership with the different spheres of government as well as other government departments. The Youth Day will take place in the Northern Cape Province in the city or town that is yet to be confirmed.
The strategic objectives of the Youth Month are, amongst others, to educate the youth about their history & heritage and role played by young people in the struggle for national liberation, by reflecting on the events of 1976, encourage debates, discussions and conversations about the challenges that confront the youth of today and how they can take forward the baton of leadership.
- To highlight government programmes and opportunities for youth development and how youth can access them, encourage oral reminiscences by the 1976 veterans, as part of sharing the experiences of 1976 and identifying and celebrating untold stories and unsung heroes and heroines in every community and every workplace whilst mobilising society in its entirety around the implementation of vision 2030 “Our future make it work" and promoting social cohesion and nation building through various government programmes.
The 2014 Youth Day is highly significant as we mark 20 years of democracy and freedom in South Africa. The year 2014 also mark 38 years since the 1976 Student uprising that tragically ended with hundreds of young people killed by the apartheid government when they protested against the imposition of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction.
It also significant that we are launching this Youth Month in Soweto at the Hector Pietersen Memorial as June 16 as this day has its roots in this township. The reason for associating it with Soweto is because it is in this area where revolts began, gained momentum and spread to other parts of the country. Since this tragic incident, the day has been commemorated as June 16.
The advent of the post-colonial and post-apartheid democratic government brought about the new way of looking at the day by rededicating it to the youth of South Africa – hence Youth Day. The idea was to perpetuate the memory, history of those who died and suffered during this day. It also has become an important Heritage moment that urges all South Africans to carry out their legacy and principles of selflessness determination and devotion that are necessary for success and growth for any society or nation.
To foreground the Youth revolution movement, in 1974 apartheid government made official order which made Afrikaans compulsory in schools. The order stated that Afrikaans be used in conjunction with English for teaching in schools. Certain subjects like social studies, mathematics and algebra were required to be taught in Afrikaans while others like home science and general science were required to be taught in English. The use of African languages was prohibited by the apartheid government citing a provision in the racist constitution which laid down Afrikaans and English as the official languages of the country.
Although the on the 16 June 1976 student rally and march were intended to be a peaceful protest, events soon got out of control and riots were seen all over the place due to the high-handedness of the apartheid regime. Hundreds of students were killed during the protest. Although this youth revolution did not see the taking back of the language order immediately, it did see a turning point in South Africa’s liberation campaign. The DAC has been tasked with reversing this legacy of language dominance and to promote redress, by producing legislation that promotes the use of all 11 languages.
While the youth of 1976 fought for freedom and the creation of a democratic state, today’s youth activism is directed towards successfully tackling the challenges of combating poverty, unemployment, HIV/AIDS, personal development, limited socio-economic opportunities, freedom, apathy and the challenges in developing of our country amongst others.
The National Development Plan (NDP) reiterates that “learners should be exposed to South Africa’s history, heritage and culture. History, heritage and culture are important for understanding the past, analysing the present and planning for the future. They foster social cohesion and understanding, which is important for social and economic stability and growth. The arts inspire creativity and innovation and also build social cohesion. A holistic education widens career path options and develops audiences and consumers in different sectors of the economy”.
It is within this context that the DAC's role in and support for Youth Month should be understood. We are spearheading preparations for the celebrations of this important epoch in the history of our struggle for liberation.
As the DAC, we have initiated a number of youth related programmes and these are:
National Youth Service Programme (TrendSetter Initiative)
TrendSetters Initiative is a flagship National Youth Service Programme (NYSP) for the Department of Arts & Culture (DAC). The Programme involves youth between the ages of 18-35 years old who will be recruited by DAC and trained in arts, culture and heritage sector. In turn they will provide their time to do volunteer work by helping other young people of a similar age as themselves with information and training in arts, culture and heritage.
The programme is on-going in the Eastern Cape (EC), North West (NW), KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and Northern Cape (NC) provinces with more than 500 youth participating in arts and culture programmes.
National Youth Band (Field Band Foundation)
The DAC launched the national Youth Band Campaign aimed at developing creativity, discipline in music and movement among the youth of South Africa. This campaign was launched in 27 September 2007 during the National Championships of the Field Band Foundation (FBF) and their 10th Year Anniversary. This campaign primarily seek to address the policy area of Youth Enrichment and Development by encouraging and supporting the development of a variety of brass bands from different communities, ranging from churches, football clubs to existing youth bands. The primary focus will be on using brass and youth bands as a vehicle for youth enrichment, youth mass participation, social inclusiveness and integration.
FBF competitions are taking place in all provinces and the National DAC supports the Regional and National Field Band Championships on annual basis. The Regional Championships will start on the 12 July 2014.
Public Art Programme
Public Art Development Programme –is designed to address the fractured, segregated and contested nature of public space in South Africa through a multi-pronged approach to the commissioning of artworks and creative projects that will involve artists working in collaboration with local communities to create artworks that animate public space and infrastructure, open up social dialogue and catalyse new cultural and creative initiatives at a community level.
The spatial legacy of colonialism and apartheid has bequeathed public spaces in our towns and cities designed in many respects around control, surveillance and the division of communities. This programme, which is one of the MGE work-streams, gets young people/artists to volunteer their time in some cases and to benefit from projects that beautify spaces. The programme uses the arts to improve environments within public spaces, such as schools, hospitals and chosen sites.
Launched in 2008 at KZN in partnership with YMCA, it is now a work-stream of MGE. Pubic Art in Municipalities Call for Proposals is underway, closing on 13 June 2014.
June Month Commemorations
DAC supports government plan of commemorating and celebrating National Youth Day, through engendering active citizenship and civic engagement thus committing to nation building.
The commemoration of National Days is spearheaded by Heritage branch. The Arts & Youth Unit supports Heritage Branch and National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) in providing content for the day & month. The commemoration of Youth Day also involves internal DAC Youth Day celebration, whereby young people in the department are involved in “My History Educational Tour”.
This tour is part of heritage & history education, to contribute to social cohesion, and to ensure that youth understand and appreciate their history, this educational tour on the June 16, 1976 Uprising is arranged in Soweto and forms part of build-up events for Youth Day. This tour also aims to educate the youth of today about the June uprising, and the historical places in Soweto that form part of the country’s rich heritage.
National Youth Day will take place on June 16, and DAC internal Youth Month Programme (My History Educational Tour) will take place on 6 and 20 June 2014.
National Youth Dialogue
The project objectives are to support a National Youth in Social-Cultural Dialogue with an intention to nurture young people’s diverse cultural values shaped by unfair past experiences and identities that ensures a democratic state in unity, through debate as a platform. Engage young people on cultural practices and holistic ways of life that youth find to be in conflict with the contemporary society. Encourage positive moral and social values based on intercultural communication as a means of engendering social cohesion amongst South African youth.
The project is on-going; it took place in Limpopo (Bele-Bela), KZN (Durban) and NC (Kimberley). These dialogues will continue to happen in conjunction with Community Conversations of the Social Cohesion.
Arts Access
The DAC has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) to mainstream the Arts Access Programme in Correctional Services into the work of their department in order to coordinate and manage their impact on the Arts Access Programme in Correctional Services. The programme aims to promote Arts, Culture and Heritage participation in Correctional Facilities (marginal group), to empower the offenders in the arts which have the potential for self-sustainability post- incarceration and rehabilitation while under correctional supervision and to focus in particular on youth, women, and people with disabilities.
The project has taken place in Baviaanspoort, Groetvlei and Groenpunt correctional facilities. The inmate ‘Music Extravaganza’ will take place in October 2014 at Groenpunt Dam.
Youth Enrichment Support Programme
The Youth Unit within the department has vowed to commit to the youth development in the arts, culture and heritage sector. This is evident in supporting small and medium youth initiative that strives to create jobs and eradicate poverty through the skills development and civic participation. In a quest for youth development and optimising the contribution of arts, culture and heritage sector to government priorities and especially New Growth Path, the Department of Arts and Culture supports all endeavours that addresses the skills development and economic emancipation of youth in arts, culture and heritage sector.
The National Development Plan 2030 highlighted that the youth bear the brunt of unemployment. The plan identified the need for growth and jobs, education and skills as well as development for youth. This can also be realised through the support of initiatives such as the Youth Enrichment Programmes as part of youth development in arts and culture. The programme will create jobs for young people through the skills they will acquire during the duration of the projects.
DAC has supported youth skills development in NW (Rustenburg), Gauteng (Winterveldt), KZN (Ulundi), Limpopo (Louis Trichardt), and EC (East London). In 2014, the project will be roll-out in Mpumalanga, Limpopo, Western Cape and Gauteng.
On the other hand, the main Youth Day event will be preceded by an educational exhibition amongst the activities proposed are youth led dialogues, conversations and exhibitions on education and career guidance, drug and substance abuse, HIV and AIDS and unemployment.
These exhibitions will demonstrate the role played by young people in the road to democracy and create a conversation that explores the impact of oppressive laws, the progress and achievements made to restore the respect and dignity of South Africans, the role South Africa has played in the African continent and the rest of the world in the past 20 years of democracy as well as the contribution of the diaspora in the mainstream South African socio- economy during this period.
We are looking forward to contributing to the efforts to empower our youth as part of investing in the future of our country. Let the conversation commence.
Thank you
