Minister Senzeni Zokwana and Santos Football Club kick off youth month with emphasis on food security
Yesterday, on the 1 June 2015, the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Mr Senzeni Zokwana braved the Cape Town cold to join the Santos Football Club - The People’s Team - at its training session as he kicked off this year’s Youth Month celebrations.
Themed; “Kick off for food security”, yesterday's launch officially offset the rest of this month’s activities, most of which will involve reaching out to youth to encourage them to participate in the agriculture sector.
Youth Month is an extremely significant part of the South African calendar as it is founded on the game changing bravery of the youth of 1976 who fought for an equal and just society. With this in mind, the department’s activities for the month of June will be centred around creating awareness of food security and awareness, as well as casting a light on agriculture as a vital career choice for youth.
The launch took place at the Santos Football Club headquarters in Lansdowne where the Minister, joined by the club’s chairperson, Mr Goolam Allie and five “kicking for food security” ambassadors, planted a food garden on the academy grounds and played a football game. Fanned by the academy players, Minister Zokwana said for them to succeed in football, they would have to make sure they eat the correct kind of food, with lots of vegetables, hence he was happy to also leave them with a food garden also aptly named; ‘The People’s Vegetable Garden’.
“This Youth Month we decided to go full steam with a campaign that will speak directly to youth. We have seen how football can bring people together, and hence our joining hands with The People’s Team as partners in spreading the message of youth participation in agriculture. I am very pleased that we have ambassadors who have had illustrious careers in football, among which include playing for Bafana Bafana. We hope this journey will serve as an honour to the young people whose gallantry set us on course to where we are today as we celebrate 21 years of a democratic dispensation,” said Minister Zokwana.
Tyren Arendse, Carl Lark, Suhayl Allie, Fagrie Lakay, Telford Ncusana and Sachin Dawood will be joining the Minister as ambassadors as he carries the message of agriculture across the country.
On the 8 June, the Minister will launch World Oceans Day at the Cape Town harbour in one of the department's fishing vessels. The launch will be in line with the Department's Youth Day month activities with a focus on promoting youth participate in the ocean economy.
Enquiries:
Palesa Mokomele
Tel: 012 319 7876 / 021 467 4502
Fax: 012 319 6681 / 021 465 6550
Cell: 082 904 1908
E-mail: PalesaM@daff.gov.za
