Limpopo Premier Chupu Mathabatha on the occasion of the Youth Month Launch, held at the Jack Botes Hall in Polokwane
Programme Director;
Members of the Executive Council present;
Mayors and Executive Mayors of our Municipalities; Leadership of the SABC in the province;
Leaders of various Youth and Students organisations; Invited guests;
Ladies and gentlemen.
We are today 8 days in to the all-important month of June, our National Youth Month.
Sacrifices made by the youth of 1976. This is the generation of young people who were willing to lay down their lives in a fight against the apartheid atrocities.
In particular, we pay tribute to the school pupils who lost their lives during the 16 June 1976 uprising in Soweto.
As you know, this year we will be celebrating the Youth Month under the theme, "Youth Action for Economic Freedom in Our Lifetime".
The essence of this theme is that the youth constitute a strongest link of our chain to pull our country out of the ashes of our past on to the future of prosperity and hope. This is the future that should see us break from the dehumanising yoke of youth poverty, and unemployment into the destiny of economic freedom.
As a government, we have and we will continue to invest resources in the efforts to empower and develop our youth. Former President of the ANC Mr. OR Tambo when he said “a nation that does not take care of its youth has no future and does not deserve one”.
It is however important to know that your economic freedom will not be delivered on a silver platter by any one, you have to struggle to achieve it.
You should learn from the brave and courageous generation of 1976, they did not sit and hope for a miracle to end apartheid; they instead rose up and took a bull by its horns. You must use gatherings such as this one and other platforms to lobby for what you think should be a government youth development policy approach.
You should not wait for someone who can no longer even remember what it feels like to be young to tell you what you must do for your own economic emancipation. You must propose solution to your own problems.
That the content of your academic syllabus responds to the urgency of empowering you to be creators of jobs instead of being job seekers.
You should guide us on what should be done with the ballooning scourge of preventable diseases amongst young people. You should be in the forefront of the lobby process on what can and must be done to ensure that the entertainment industry is supported to ensure sustainable opportunities for you.
Today we have purposefully brought some of your stars and idols to this launch.
You will realise that the majority of these stars, if not all, hail from this province, most of whom from the deep rural areas of our province. They have made it against the odds. Because of their career achievements but also because of their exemplary life styles. We hope that their successes will inspire you to action.
You must remember that you don’t have to be a soccer star, a soapie star, or a musician to be recognised by society. You simply have to excel wherever you are.
Programme Director,
This year’s Youth Month Programme will include a series of Memorial Lectures about the significant of June 16 and most importantly about the lesson than must be learnt by the youth of today from the sacrifices of the 1976 generations.
This year we have brought together the efforts of government departments, municipalities and Non-Governmental Organisations to ensure maximum value for this Youth Month. We will be opening Youth Information and Resource Centres which are expected to go a long way in equipping our youth societal development.
Our other programmes for this month include:
- Job preparedness and life skills training
- Campaign against crime and substance abuse, already hosted by the Capricorn District Municipality in Botlokwa
- Youth economic Indaba to be hosted by LEDET in the Waterberg district
- Youth Agricultural summit and Young Aspirant Farmers awards to be hosted by the Department of Agriculture.
We have also tailored programmes to engage young people in conflict with the law. The object of such engagements is to re- invite these young offenders back to the society as opposed to losing them to the dark world of criminal activities.
Programme Director,
Our main message for the Youth Day will be delivered at the University of Venda on June 16 adequately represented at this Provincial Youth Day Event.
But before I conclude, I want to once again, invite all young people in our province to seize the many opportunities availed by democracy. The struggle for economic emancipation requires your active participation.
We need to re-invite the spirit of Vuk’usenzele.
Indeed, working together we can move the agenda of Youth Development Forward,
I thank you!
