occasion of the launch of the Provincial Youth Service, Capricorn
District
6 March 2007
Programme Director
Executive Mayor of Capricorn District Municipality
Mayor of Blouberg Municipality
Traditional leaders
MPs and MPLs
Councillors
Chairperson of the National Youth Commission (NYC)
Chairperson of Limpopo Youth Commission and other commissioners
Representatives of Umsobomvu Youth Fund (UYF), the Sector Education and
Training Authorities (SETAs) and various departments
Leaders of various youth formation
The youth of our province,
Comrades and friends
The National Youth Service (NYS) programme is an exciting and one of the
long awaited programmes of our democratic government since 1994. It was first
announced in 1996 by the then President Nelson Mandela as a catalysing strategy
for facilitating nation building and youth development. We are happy that the
idea has gained ground particularly given the fact that South Africa remains
one of the countries in the world with a rich profile of youth struggles and
one of the few where young people continue to play an important role in
political and socio-economic transformation of their country. It is important
to once again reiterate that our country is free owing largely to the daring
and volunteering spirit of the youth who in 1976 paid the highest price for
freedom and liberation.
Programme Director
Volunteerism is not a new phenomenon in our country. The liberation struggle
itself would not have been fought and won without people volunteering to do
their bit to fight the apartheid regime. In recent years we have seen
communities coming together through the Letsema campaign to offer their hands
and expertise towards rebuilding their villages and townships. This is national
service at its best as it continues to be informed by the spirit of solidarity
and self sacrifice for the common good of society.
The short history of our country since 1994 is full of many community
builders whom we can draw enormous inspirations and lessons from. Here in our
own province there are men and women of goodwill of the calibre of people such
as mme Bheka Ntsanwisi, who remains a shining role model and an example of what
it means to be selfless and caring without one seeking material and personal
glory.
Bheka Ntsanwisi is not alone in her commitment as there are many other
unsung heroes and heroines in villages and townships, who continue to do good
unto others and to their communities without demanding remuneration from their
government. We expect nothing short of this commitment from those who shall be
taking part in our provincial youth service programme.
The reports we have learned from the Bela-Bela youth service pilot project
where some young people apparently lost patience and dropped out from the
programme because they could not get money, must never be repeated. We
discourage this self-serving behaviour and call on young people to volunteer in
good faith and not join the programme purely for financial gain.
Programme Director
Government has over the last decade succeeded in providing a positive policy
framework and an environment for youth development and empowerment. We are now
beginning to see sound integration and mainstreaming of youth development
programmes across government departments and municipalities.
We believe that for many years to come young people would remain a priority
target group for our country and government in line with priorities of the
Provincial Growth and Development Strategy (PGDS) and Accelerated and Shared
Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA). This is because they constitute a
bigger proportion of the majority who are poor and unemployed. They also
constitute a bigger number of those living with HIV and AIDS in our society,
making them a vulnerable group in society.
Programme Director
However, the youth cannot be passive recipients of social services nor can
we allow our youth to be bystanders in the process of developing our country.
They cannot stand by and watch their fellow South Africans rolling up their
sleeves to better their living circumstances while they only wait to be served
without giving back to their communities.
High on our agenda for youth development is, correctly, the questions of
skills development, job creation and poverty alleviation. The national
programme of AsgiSA and our own PGDS have in particular singled out the area of
skills development as one that needs urgent attention in order to address
unemployment and to grow the economy. It has been stated many a time that the
skills of most young South Africans are generally inadequate to meet the
demands of a commodity based, globalising economy which is mainly service and
knowledge driven. The reality of the matter is that without these skills,
unfortunately, many young people would not be able to fill up vacancies that
require specialised knowledge and expertise.
The provincial youth service programme we are launching today offers an
opportunity for young people to become creators of their own jobs and to learn
new skills while also contributing to the well-being of their communities.
Apart from acquiring much needed skills and experience in the various fields of
work, the youth also stand to benefit from learning sets of values such as:
* national pride and patriotism
* a culture of service and civic duty
* a sense of work ethic and discipline
This programme is therefore holistic and offers a wide variety of
opportunities for young people to consider. For instance, through this youth
service programme, the youth can help in the renovation of schools and
community centres, help the Department of Roads and Transport in putting up
fences alongside busy public roads to prevent stray animals from getting into
the roads, fill up pot holes on our roads, become police reservists, act as
anti-crime ambassadors for 2010 FIFA World Cup, act as Adult Basic Education
and Training (ABET) facilitators to reduce the rate of illiteracy in our
society, participate in home based care, educate and counsel those with HIV and
AIDS and also become career counsellors.
These are not odd tasks which nobody is prepared to do but critical areas of
provincial and national importance. These interventions are therefore necessary
and important for keeping the youth away from the streets which are a source of
drugs, prostitution, crime and loitering. We believe that there is truth in the
old saying that, "an idle mind is a devils workshop".
There are good examples in the world particularly from countries like Cuba
and China which have succeeded beyond expectation in reducing high illiteracy
levels as early as 1965, mainly as a result of the involvement of youth in
volunteer movements.
Programme Director
We should see this provincial chapter of the National Youth Service (NYS)
programme as an addition to other existing platforms for youth support and
development which are already in place like internships, learnerships, Expanded
Public Works Programme (EPWP) interventions, business financing and youth
advisory services.
This programme is particularly aimed at "out of school youth" and unemployed
graduates for them to acquire experience and skills in preparation for their
integration into the mainstream of society and the economy.
We have taken steps to ensure that the SETAs are roped in order to ensure
that the skills acquired in this programme can then be recognised as prior
learning or recognition of prior learning (RPL), to help those who exit this
process to later find jobs.
We have also decided to increase the number of our intake in the province
from 1 000 to 3 000 to respond to the President's call made during this year
State of the Nation Address (SONA) for the number of volunteers to be doubled
to 20 000.
We make a call to all eligible young people to come forward in their numbers
and register their names with the Limpopo Youth Commission in order to be
enlisted into the programme.
As always, we expect the disciplined youth of Limpopo to heed this call and
do the right thing. The wise words of Moses Kotane which were said in a
statement in 1968 still ring true today, "At this hour of destiny your country
and your people need you. The future of South Africa is yours and it will be
what you make of it."
Like discipline cadres we expect that you will heed this message and occupy
the front trenches of our onslaught against hunger and poverty!
I thank you!
Source: Office of the Premier, Limpopo Provincial Government
6 March 2007
