The National Youth Development Agency will in the next three months establish an office within the Breede Valley municipality in the Western Cape with the aim of ensuring NYDA is accessible to the youth it serves. This is in line with the NYDA’s strategy to have offices in all the 283 municipalities across the country.
The Executive Mayor, Charles Ntsomi, expressed in no unclear terms the need to turn around the lives of young people in the area and views the NYDA as a strategic partner in realising this objective. On the cards also are plans to host a youth summit, develop a youth strategy as well establish a youth council for Breede Valley, a rural farming community comprising of four towns whose youth make up 36 percent of its population.
“We are exploring areas of cooperation between us and the Breede Valley municipality and other possible partnerships which we hope will assist in dealing with the high unemployment rates in the area,” says Andile Lungisa, executive chairperson of the NYDA.
Lungisa says that similar initiatives will take place in other provinces where the NYDA will come up with ways to provide technical support toward the implementation of products and deployment of the organisation’s products and services.
Although the establishment of this office will depend on the availability of funds, the NYDA will allocate some funds to go towards this while a task team from the Breede Municipality will also lobby for more funding.
“Our office, once established, will focus on getting youth in Breede Valley to serve their community by participating in the National Youth Service programme, a programme at providing youth with skills while they serve their communities. We will also focus on the economic participation of youth,” concludes Lungisa.
For more information contact:
Linda Mbongwa
Tel: 011 651 7053
E-mail: lmbongwa@nyda.gov.za
Refilwe Mphane
Tel: 011 651 7175
E-mail: rmphane@nyda.gov.za
Mbulelo Memani
Tel: 023 348 4966
E-mail: mlelo@breedevallei.gov.za
Hector Yabo
Tel: 023 348 2854
E-mail: hyabo@breedevallei.gov.za
Issued by: National Youth Development Agency
11 February 2010
Source: National Youth Development Agency (http://www.nyda.gov.za/)
