5 March 2007
The National Youth Commission (NYC) convened an annual lekgotla in Tshwane
on 28 February until 2 March 2007. The purpose of the lekgotla, an NYC convened
planning meeting of all Provincial Youth Commissions (PYCs), was to interrogate
national development statements, including the State of the Nation Address
(SONA) and the budget speech recently released by government.
The meeting also received presentations from the NYC Chairperson, Nomi
Nkondlo and PYC chairpersons on the state of youth development across the
country. A great amount of ground has been covered, however, reports
acknowledged gaps which the policy development process must attend to.
After deliberations, the lekgotla emerged with a youth development programme
of action for 2007 and beyond.
The following are some of the strategic areas of focus:
1. President's SONA 2007
The meeting welcomed the President's SONA as presented to Parliament. In
particular, the meeting noted commitment made towards the rollout of the
national youth service programme in terms of the recruitment of 5 000 as part
of the Expanded Public Works programme (EPWP). The meeting committed to engage
the Department of Public Works (DPW) to develop a countrywide plan for this
initial intake.
The lekgotla agreed to kick-start a campaign to mobilise youth in order to
meet the youth development targets of 20 000 national youth service (NYS)
participants and 30 000 youth volunteer as mentioned in SONA 2007.
2. Budget speech
The meeting commended the allocation of sizeable amount of resources towards
the recruitment of more teachers into the teaching profession, particularly
those who will be teaching mathematics and science. However, it was noted that
the government missed an opportunity to pronounce concretely on the allocation
towards the NYS programme. It is the view of the lekgotla that the challenge of
youth unemployment and demand of critical and scarce skills in our country
necessitates that the NYS be elevated to the status of the EPWP.
3. Parliament's review of Chapter 9 and associated institutions
The meeting welcomed the parliamentary ad hoc committee to review Chapter 9
and related institutions. However, the youth commissioners are very concerned
by the alarmist nature in which some of the committee members and role players
tend to raise issues, especially erroneous comments based on the
misinterpretation of the mandate of the commission. It is the view of the
lekgotla that youth development is a very serious matter and should not at any
stage be reduced to theatrical gestures meant to excite spectators. The
lekgotla will welcome the findings of the process.
4. Policy review process
The National Youth Development Policy Framework 2002/07 is due for review.
The meeting agreed to intensify the consultative process towards the
development and adoption of a national youth policy before end of June
2007.
PYCs agreed to deepen consultation on the draft youth policy due for
circulation before end March 2007.
5. NYS programme
The meeting noted and welcomed a number of pronouncements made by Premiers
on the rollout of this NYS. It noted that the programme must still find
concrete expression in the State of the Provinces Addresses (SOPAs) of Premiers
and thereby adopted as one of the central programme in the Provincial Growth
and Development Strategies (PGDS).
The lekgotla registered its disappointment of the low targets set by
Premiers in their respective SOPAs. Besides the low targets set which fail to
contribute to the national targets set in the SONA, some provinces never
pronounced at all on youth development. PYCs committed to deepen their
engagement with Premiers on this particular programme as concretes are expected
from such pronouncements of national importance.
The lekgotla agreed to conduct a national campaign with a series of
activities as a build-up towards the commemoration of Global Youth Service Day.
Various stakeholders including the South African Youth Council and Umsobomvu
Youth Fund (UYF) will be convened to develop a plan towards this historic day
in the calendar of youth development.
The local sphere of government remains very critical in the rollout of the
NYS, hence the lekgotla makes a clarion call to all municipalities to fully
integrate the programme into their Integrated Development Plans (IDPs). Part of
the rollout should be the setting up of local youth units in all
municipalities. So far only 25% of the municipalities have established the
local youth units.
6. Education and training
The meeting committed to engage the Department of Education to embark on a
programme to inform young people on the significance of the skills development
programmes provided by Further Education and Training (FET) colleges in meeting
the economic development and labour market needs of our country. Part of the
additional resources allocated to FET development should also go towards
awareness creation campaign targeting youth from previously disadvantaged
communities.
The lekgotla resolved to embark on a winter and spring schools programme as
part of the campaign to popularise FET colleges and to assist poor performing
schools targeting grade 11 and 12s. Relevant role players such as members of
Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA) and other Accelerated
and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA) related institutions
will be invited to address the learners on careers opportunities presented by
our growing economy.
The winter and spring schools programme will also serve as mobilisation
points towards meeting the set targets of 20 000 NYS participants and 30 000
youth volunteers mentioned in the SONA.
7. Youth and health
The meeting welcomed the current process as led by the Deputy President to
review the national strategy plan on HIV and AIDS of the South African National
Aids Council (SANAC). The meeting committed to deepen its efforts of educating
young people on the dangers of unprotected sex. Furthermore, the meeting
endorsed the national comprehensive plan on HIV and AIDS as led by the Ministry
of Health.
8. Youth in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)
The NYC has developed a joint programme with the Presidential National
Commission on Information Society and Development to promote skills development
among youth on the use of ICT to combat the social ills of unemployment and
poverty. These include encouraging the training of young people on the use of
the modern technology to promote healthy living, community development,
economic participation, etc.
The lekgotla agreed that the rollout of the programme will find expression
within provincial list of urgent activities. The first phase of the programme
speaks to the launch of cooperatives on ICT in April 2007.
9. Access to information
The meeting noted the need to spread the information dissemination points
throughout the country, particularly in rural areas. Of great concern was the
visible duplication of the setting up of youth advisory centres and Thusong
Community Centres. The lekgotla resolved that an ongoing audit of the centres
should be embarked upon to reduce duplication on the provision of the service
to communities particularly in the urban areas while there is very few in some
rural communities.
10. Social cohesion
The meeting welcomed the proposal by the President to establish a national
steering committee to interrogate and find lasting solutions to challenges of
national social cohesion. Youth are among the most affected by these challenges
and it was resolved that the conceptualisation of the process should include
youth formations and integrate the elements of NYS. The NYS speaks to these
basic tenants of our nation building such as inculcating patriotism, promoting
social cohesion, community development etc.
11. Youth and crime
The meeting noted the current debate on issues of crime and ongoing implicit
association of youth as perpetrators of crime. It was resolved that the
stigmatisation of youth remains a challenge which needs to be integrated into
the efforts of the Moral Regeneration Movement (MRM). It was resolved that,
through local youth desks and youth units, youth should swell the ranks of
Community Policing Fora (CPF) as crime combatants.
12. Strategic partnerships
As part of acknowledgements made on the partnership were standing
arrangements with a number of organisations such as the national productivity
institute (NPI) and Highbury Safika. The lekgotla agreed to develop measures to
strengthen this area.
The operational plans will further elaborate on deepening of the Private
Public Partnerships (PPPs) to promote youth development across the country.
13. Youth in civil society
The weak state of civil society youth organisations remains a major concern
to the youth commission. It was agreed that the NYC would engage the South
African Youth Council (SAYC) to establish constraints that contribute towards
the declining of youth civil society mobilisation. NYC will meet with the PYCs
while efforts would also be made to establish the state of local youth
development forums (LYDF) at local government level.
14. Private sector partnerships
The levels of youth unemployment are unacceptably high and urgent drastic
interventions need to be implemented to address the matter. While acknowledging
government initiatives, a commitment from all stakeholders particularly the
private sector to concretely commit towards combating youth unemployment among
young people.
The meeting noted ongoing reluctance of the private sector to get involved
in youth development. The reluctance has been so persistent that no expression
is found in corporate social responsibility programmes of a many private sector
companies, except for public relations campaigns with very little or no impact
on transforming the lives of poor young South Africans. It was agreed that
strategic fora of business such as Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) should be
engaged to pronounce on youth development.
The meeting, however, applauds the commitment made by Anglo American of
disbursing R40 million a year funding educational fields of maths, science and
English. The initiative definitely provides firm footing to sustainable
livelihoods for thousands of our youth especially those from previously
disadvantaged communities.
15. Parliamentary Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) on Youth
The meeting acknowledged its ongoing engagement with the Parliamentary Joint
Monitoring Committee (JMC) on the improvement of quality of life and status of
children, youth and people with disabilities. It was agreed that more efforts
need to be embarked upon by the JMC to increase visibility of the oversight
role the committee plays on youth development. The lekgotla called for more
government departments to be invited to account on programmes they are rolling
out on youth development as part of the national quest to fight poverty.
16. Youth Development Month 2007 (16 June)
This year, 2007, our country will be commemorating the 31st anniversary of
the Soweto and related uprisings of 16 June 1976. All delegates welcomed the
great impact the 30th anniversary of 16 June programme in profiling the youth
development agenda. It was noted that this year's 16 June takes place a year
before 2008, the year preceding 2009, the year of the fourth democratic
elections. It was agreed that the partnership with the Independent Electoral
Commission (IEC) should be resuscitated across the country including PYCs and
provincial electoral offices.
A youth festival, speaking to national development imperatives such as
promoting social cohesion, fighting poverty, community development will be the
main event. This year's programme will seek to renew our pledge as part of a
national partnership to build a better life for all, including our youth.
The lekgotla agreed to broaden stakeholder engagement process to strengthen
this year's 16 June programme. Such a process would agree on the hosting
province of this year's National Youth Day event.
17. Capacity building
Since inception, the commission has experienced capacity challenges
particularly in the area of research. It was fully acknowledged that the
mandate of the commission requires ongoing assessment of the state of young
people in order to make accurate and up-to-date recommendations to government
and other youth development role players. It was also agreed that the
utilisation of existing research institutions of government such as Statistics
South Africa (Stats SA), Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), National
Productivity Institute (NPI), etc, would be vital to boost the capacity of the
commission.
18. FIFA Soccer World Cup 2010
The meeting noted a number of co-operations existing between the local
organising committee and PYCs. It was resolved that a National Youth Summit on
2010 be convened during June 2007 to evolve a strategy of integrating youth
development into the national and continental programme towards 2010.
19. Relationship with UYF
The meeting noted the need to strengthen and improve working relations with
UYF. A strong sense of commitment was noted from all youth development role
players. However, an observation was made on the need to pay attention to
national development imperatives in the implementation of our programmes
including those rolled out by UYF. Building a spirit of harmony among
stakeholders will be key for unleashing a successful youth development agenda
towards genuinely meeting the targets as set out in key countrywide programmes
and interventions such those stipulated in the Growth and Development Strategy
(GDS) and AsgiSA.
20. Co-operation with government departments
The lekgotla noted and welcomed the co-operation from government departments
both nationally and provincially. However, the ongoing inconsistent manner in
which youth development matters are attended to is a cause for concern. There
is glaring lack of understanding of what the youth development agenda of the
democratic order entails and its intended impact in advancing the broader
national development agenda.
The meeting committed to further deepen the engagement with clusters and
host Inter-Departmental Committee (IDC) on Youth Affairs for youth development
to ultimately find concrete expression in the government programme of action
(POA).
21. Youth Development Forum (YDF)
The youth commission lekgotla deliberated on the Cabinet pronouncement to
set up a YDF, to be led by the Deputy President with the NYC chairperson, to
address issues of youth economic participation and the mobilisation private
sector investment into youth development. The lekgotla resolved to set in
motion a process of information gathering on the proposed forum. A special
chairpersons' forum will be convened in due course to peruse and interrogate
all available information on the matter.
23. Development of African youth
The meeting noted the myriad of challenges including lack of access to
education, poverty, unemployment, lack of access to health, etc, confronting
the youth of Africa. It was agreed that the South African youth should do all
possible to work with the youth leadership of the continent to find solutions
to these challenges. All delegates applauded the great strides made by the
political leadership of the continent, through the African Union (AU), in the
implementation of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). It was
resolved that the international relations strategy of the commission shall be
strongly premised on the provisions of the African Youth Charter as adopted by
the youth of Africa in Addis Ababa in 2006.
24. Cricket World Cup 2007
The youth commission, speaking on behalf of the 18,1 million young South
Africans wishes our cricket team the Proteas, the best of luck as they embark
on a crusade to conquer the world in the Cricket World Cup to be held in the
West Indies.
However, the snail's pace at which the transformation of cricket moves
remains a major concern across all nine provinces. Noted was the failure of
cricket development programmes to produce players which will contribute towards
the formation of a national team representative of the demographics of our
country's population. The lekgotla makes a call to the South African Cricket
Board (SACB) to pay attention to this matter in the build-up towards the next
Cricket World Cup.
Contact:
Monde Mkalipi
Cell: 082 575 3976
Meshack Sempe
Communications Directorate
Tel: (012) 309 7866
Fax: (012) 324 4756
Fax: 086 692 2961
Cell: 076 7074 598
E-mail: sempem@nyc.gov.za
Issued by the National Youth Commission
5 March 2007
