Press Club
29 March 2007
Youth Development Agenda is on Course
Responding to the challenge of youth development in South Africa, the
Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) asserts that; "Youth development
must focus on education and training, job creation and enabling young people to
realise their full potential and participate in society and their future. It
must restore the hope of our youth in the future and in their capacity to
channel their resourcefulness and energy into the reconstruction and
development."
Further to this, former President Nelson Mandela explained the position of
youth and youth development in relation to the RDP as follows; "The youth of
our country are the valued possession of the nation. Without them there can be
no future. Their needs are immense and urgent. They are at the centre of our
reconstruction and development plan."
Informed by these pronouncements, the NYC has been able to spearhead a
number of initiatives to advance the youth development agenda since its
inception in 1996.
1. National Youth Development Policy Framework (2002-2007)
Through the National Youth Development Policy Framework, the NYC has been
able to promote a uniform approach to youth development across government
departments. On a quarterly basis, the NYC convenes government departments in a
forum called the Inter-Departmental Committee (IDC) on Youth Affairs to assess
the implementation of youth development programmes, and to further make
recommendations to entrench the youth development agenda in the line functions
of departments.
The NYC IDC has encountered a number of challenges which have led to youth
development not effectively making impact on the overall line functions and
clusters of government. Some of these relate to lack of continuity in the
members who serve in the IDC.
2. National Youth Economic Participation
Youth constitute 70 percent of the unemployed in South Africa. This is a
critical challenge that has also been highlighted by the President in the State
of the Nation Address 2007.
From inception, the NYC has advanced for certain positions some of which
made their way into the Job Summit of 1998. It was after such proposals by the
NYC to the Job Summit that Government decided to set up Umsobomvu Youth Fund to
promote youth economic participation and entrepreneurship. More development
financing institutions have been set, including Ntsika, Khula, National
Empowerment Fund etc, but no concrete has been presented as yet to prove that
these institutions are making an impact on youth development.
3. Youth Information Service
One of the key programmes of the NYC is the Youth Information Service. The
programme was launched by the Minister in the Presidency, Dr Essop Pahad, in
1998. It provides information to South African youth on a variety of topics
ranging from education and training, employment, health, safety and the law,
participating in a democracy etc.
The information is disseminated in the following:
a) A booklet called the Youth Information Guide
b) Tel: toll free 0800 000 001
c) Website: http://www.nyc.gov.za
However, the challenge of the lack of access to information, particularly by
youth in previously disadvantaged communities requires a more integrated
approach involving critical stakeholders such as the Departments of
Communications and Provincial Affairs and Local Government.
4 Skills Development
Towards the end of 1995, our country pronounced on a move to speed up the
implementation of our national development programmes. Central to this
pronouncement was the rollout of the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative
for South Africa (AsgiSA), led by Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, with
the objective of increasing gross domestic product growth for this period until
2010 to 6% and to halve unemployment and poverty by 2014.
In December 2005, government invited the youth sector to make inputs into
the national AsgiSA framework. Such input was presented to government and
further reflected in the State of the Nation Address 2006.
Last week, Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka as the head of the Joint
Task Team on the Joint Initiative on Priority Skills Acquisition (Jipsa)
released a report on the ground covered over the past nine months.
On behalf of all the SA youth, the NYC welcomes the report and is happy with
the interventions made to create short term but sustainable interventions to
the skills problem in our country.
Our critical analysis of the report looks at the following:
1. Jipsa Friendly Budget
We welcome the allocation of sizeable amount of resources towards the
Further Education and Training (FET) Colleges in order to realise the
objectives of Jipsa. In terms of the Budget speech 2007, government has
allocated R600 million towards the recapitalisation of FET colleges
programme.
On High Priority Skills Areas, the NYC welcomes the following:
* the proposed increase of annual output of engineers from the higher
education sector by 1000 to a total of 2 400
* the proposed production of 12 500 artisans per year over the next four
years
* Town and regional planners 'the strengthening of the South African Council of
Planners and have a bursary fund established for planning students'
2. New Projects to Support AsgiSA
Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)
We welcome the interventions to address the skills needs to support the BPO
with funding from the Department of Labour to train no less than 7 200 entry
call-centre operators. The programme is planned to be implemented through the
relevant Sectoral Education and Training Authority and aims to recruit
matriculants who are unemployed and lack other qualifications to be trained and
placed in call-centre job opportunities.
3. Tourism
We call upon the consolidation of some of the 'quick win' projects such as
the training of the previously disadvantaged young people as tourist guides,
Small Medium and Micro Enterprise mentorship programmes and the placement of
unemployed graduates. As our country intensifies preparations towards 2010 and
the people of the world begin to trickle into our country, more of our youth
should be trained in this area. It is only our youth who grew up and live in
our townships can accurately tell our township tales and way of life.
4. Information and communications technology (ICT)
The NYC has recently convened SA youth to develop a programme with the
Presidential National Commission on Information Society and Development. The
youth programme on ICT presents workable solutions that are in sync with the
proposed solutions of the Jipsa Task Team. The youth programme will be
forwarded to the Jipsa Task Team so that it finds a way in to the national ICT
human resource development and training plan.
5. Policy Review Process
The National Youth Development Policy Framework which was adopted by Cabinet
in 2001 and came into effect in 2002 is undergoing review as its term comes to
an end in end of March 2007. The NYC is currently convening various
stakeholders to solicit their input. June 2007 is the projected period for the
finalisation of this process.
6. Transformation of the media landscape
In the call for transformation of the media, we put a challenge to our media
houses to really begin to dig deeper on matters of youth development. While we
are aware of the attempts by media houses to cut costs, but the tendency of
sticking to same old stale sound bites should be reconsidered.
"My plea to the media is: use your freedom, roundly criticise the Government
as is your right, which we are committed to defend, but do not simply hit out
without cause or reflection. No one is going to interfere with the
constitutional right to free expression as entrenched in our Constitution,"
President Thabo Mbeki in 2000 on accepting the award of the Newsmaker of the
Year from the Pretoria Press Club.
7. Youth Development Month 2007
This year, 2007, our country will commemorate the 31st Anniversary of the
Soweto and related uprisings of June 16 1976. Our efforts will be directed
towards the national mobilisation process towards the 2009 General Elections.
Upon completion of the consultative process, a programme will be released to
the media in due course.
8. SABC Misses It
The NYC strongly condemns the screening of last Thursday's drama series,
Emthunzini Wentaba, by the SABC. The contents of the episode do not only
misrepresent the rites of passage to manhood, but pose a serious drawback in
our nation's quest to restore the dignity of the African people.
Enquiries:
Monde Mkalipi
Cell: 082 575 3976
Issued by: National Youth Commission
29 March 2007
Source: National Youth Commission (http://www.nyc.gov.za/)
