The Minister of Defence and Military Veterans’ vision to establish a National Youth Service (NYS) was further enhanced when five-hundred youth from the country’s eight provinces received their certificates at a function to be held at De Brug in Bloemfontein on 17 March 2011. The youth were recruited by the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform under its National Rural Youth Service Corps and seconded to the Department of Defence (DOD) for a seven week long foundation phase pilot training in amongst others, personal discipline, civic education, patriotism and civic participation (voluntarism).
During her budget vote speech on 04 May 2010, Minister Lindiwe Sisulu announced her intentions to introduce a Bill that would provide the necessary legal framework for the creation of a National Youth Service. In this regard, the DOD has embarked on a public consultative process to solicit inputs from various defence stakeholders, particularly the youth formations.
Once established, the NYS will in among others, seek to address the challenges of youth unemployment. This will be done by ensuring that all youth will be gradually absorbed in the Department of Defence’s facilities where they will be offered skills that each will be able to build on.
The function was attended by the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Ms Minister Lindiwe Sisulu and Rural Development and Land Affairs Minister, Mr Gugile Nkwinti,
