Youth Awards, in Bethlehem
2 June 2006
Programme Director,
The Chairperson and commissioners of the Free State Youth Commission,
Members of the Executive Council,
The Mayor of Dihlabeng,
Esteemed recipients of the Premier Youth Awards,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
The year 2006 is a very symbolic and important one in the lives of our young
people in South Africa and in our province. It is the year of celebrations and
reflections and a year of anniversaries in the struggle for freedom and the
emancipation of our youth.
Our youth together with all fellow South Africans observe and celebrate the
centenary of the Bhambata poll tax rebellion, the centenary of the Satyagra of
Mahatma Ghandi, the 50th anniversary of the womenâs march and of course the
30th anniversary of the Soweto students uprising.
We emphasise the need for reflections so that our history of blood and sweat
of pain and sorrow of resilience and determination and of struggle for freedom
is forever embedded in the hearts and minds of our youth. Our young people must
understand that these freedoms that we celebrate today did not come on a silver
platter. People had to sacrifice their most basic rights including the right to
life so that we may be free and live with human dignity and respect.
Young people have always distinguished themselves as fearless defenders of
our freedom and as jealous custodians of our history. This particular attribute
of our youth must not die with this generation. Therefore, all of us have a
responsibility to keep high the banner of youth activism and vigilance. We have
to reconnect with history to accelerate youth development. Heroes and pioneers
of youth development have to be embraced and profiled so that we all draw from
their rich legacy of selflessness and service to the people.
This year also marks the 10th anniversary of institutionalised youth
development in the country. The Free State was among the first provincial
governments to establish the youth commissions through the adoption by the
legislature of the Free State Youth Commission Act No 4 of 1996.
The first Chairperson of the Commission, the late Paul Mahlatsi in whose
memory we dedicate these awards, was among the first pioneers of the pursuit of
youth development through institutional means. Quite obviously this was a new
terrain for our youth where for the first time, youth had to be on the same
side with government to seek solutions to the problems facing them. It couldnât
have been an easy route considering the magnitude of developmental deficits
facing young people as a result of institutionalised marginalisation and
deprivation of black and African youth through apartheid rule.
We therefore salute the pioneers of institutionalised youth development led
by the late Paul Mahlatsi. We will remain indebted to their visionary
leadership in perfecting our approach as government as we move finally towards
an integrated youth development strategy.
We also take this opportunity to salute other youth commissioners who served
in past commissions and who today because of death cannot witness the
realisation of their vision. We salute Lumka Nogogo, the former Deputy
Chairperson of the commission and we salute Archibald Mlahleki who also served
diligently in the Free State Youth Commision. The challenge facing the current
generations of commissioners is to emulate the selflessness and commitment to
service of these pathfinders.
May their souls rest in peace and may their legacy inspire all of us towards
an integrated Youth Development Strategy (YDS).
As we retrace the life of the Free State Youth Commission, we do so with
pride on the milestones achieved. The Free State Youth Commission has been a
front-runner in leading the whole country in the implementation of best
practice models and on innovating effective strategies of taking forward the
struggle for youth development. This leadership has seen this commission
assisting its counterparts in other provinces including the National Youth
Commission towards the strategic repositioning of the commission to deal with
new challenges. This includes the creation of the national commission as one
national structure with provincial and local presence, as well as the
establishment of a single youth development agency.
The provincial government is keenly observing these developments and we will
continue to give support to young people as they determine the best mechanisms
to pursue their development. We do this because we understand fully, that the
youth are the principal determinants and motive forces of their own development
and that nobody including us as government should seek to dictate to our youth
on these matters because if we do that we take away hard earned freedom and
right which young people have fought for and won for themselves.
Programme Director, in celebrating the 30th anniversary of the 16 June 1976
uprising, we made a pronouncement as the provincial government that we will
establish a unit in the Premierâs office which will oversee the rollout of
national youth service programme in all departments. We further committed to
align the Intergraded Youth Development Strategy (IYDS) to the Provincial
Growth and Development Strategy (PGDS), I am happy to report that the policy
unit has been tasked to attend to these two matters and that some significant
progress has been registered. The current review of the Free State Growth and
Development Strategy (FSGDS) will definitely ensure the attainment of this
commitment
Today we celebrate the exceptional excellence of the sons and daughters of
our province in engaging with their daily struggles. We do that through the
Premier youth awards, which have come to represent the collective sense of
appreciation by the Free State public and government. These awards are a
collective embrace and celebration of the outstanding contribution of our youth
towards service excellence, innovation and talent. The recipients today are
true repositories and embodiment of the values that we seek to entrench among
our youth.
We are therefore proud as the government and the people of the Free State to
be associated with youth who understand that the development of humanity can
never be measured with individual success alone but that it must always be the
collective triumph of humanity over adversary. It must always be the conquest
of a better life for all over a life of human misery.
We celebrate your achievements because you inspire hope in the future. We
salute your greatness because you are sending a clear message that the future
of our country is in good hands embrace your new ways of joining hands and
breaking barriers that seeks to divide youth.
I wish to congratulate all the recipients today and hopefully your actions
will serve as an inspiration to many other young people to rise above
mediocrity and strive for excellence. I also wish to salute the recipients of
special recognition awards and wish to implore you to work together with all of
us to:
* recall the contribution of young people to building a non-racial,
non-sexist, democratic and prosperous South Africa
* intensify youth development across all levels of society and all
sectors
* ensure the participation of young people in the economy including on
interventions such as Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa
(AsgiSA),
* place focus on skills development in priority sectors.
I take this opportunity to wish all of you well as we celebrate and observe
the Youth Month and we must ensure that the future youth who are our children
also grow up in a safe, secured and enabling environment.
I thank you!
Issued by: Office of the Premier, Free State Provincial Government
2 June 2006
