P Mlambo-Ngcuka: National Youth Convention

5 June 2006

Programme Director,
The Minister in the Presidency, Dr Essop Pahad,
Youth Commission Chairperson, Jabu Mbalula,
Chairpersons of Provincial Youth Commissions,
Youth leaders,
Delegates,
Ladies and gentlemen;

This year, 2006, our country commemorates and celebrates the 30th
anniversary of the Soweto and connected uprisings. The anniversary is listed
among the major milestones that characterise our struggle for national
liberation. Among these is the Women’s March to the Union Buildings 50 years
ago, the 1906 Bhambatha Rebellion against poll tax and the centenary of the
Satyagraha of Mahatma Gandhi.

The 1976 generation played their role to bring about the non-racial,
non-sexist, democratic and prosperous society we all live in today. During that
struggle for national liberation many of our youth found themselves out of
school, displaced, and some even died.

In 1994, the democratic government had to pronounce a holistic plan on how
it intended to deal with the plight of our youth thus healing the wounds of the
past.

The National Youth Development Policy Framework defines the vision of youth
development in South Africa as an integrated, holistic and sustainable youth
development conscious of the historical imbalances and current realities to
build a non-sexist, non-racist, democratic South Africa. This kind of South
Africa will be one in which young people and their organisations not only enjoy
and contribute to their full potential in the social, economic and political
spheres of life but also recognise and develop their responsibilities to build
a better life for all.

This policy framework has provided guidance to a number of government
departments in terms of what policy interventions need to be put in place. But
as the delegates in this convention would ask, has this framework succeeded in
making concrete change to the lives of young South Africans. Are there gaps
that need to be filled in?

The 2005 Status of Youth Report, 2005 labour force survey and the Department
of Labour’s State of Skills Report categorise youth as being among the
vulnerable groups of our society in terms of skills, poverty and unemployment.
Huge strides have been made in terms of concretising development of other
vulnerable groups such as women, people with disabilities and children. The
question we need to ask, how has our country fared in terms of ensuring that
youth needs are prioritised? The youth leadership converged at this convention
should engage government on this question. But this leadership should be bold
enough to tell us how effective have youth institutions been in terms of
supporting youth development. You must tell us whether the National Youth
Commission has met its mandate elaborated in the National Youth Commission Act
of 1996. You must also tell us if the programmes of Umsobomvu Youth Fund are
effective. You cannot gather here and point fingers at government but fail to
critique how you as organisations have met your mandate. I hope the South
African Youth Council (SAYC) is represented here. You need to ask yourselves
again whether SAYC is effective in the structures where it represent youth such
as National Economic Development and Labour Council (NedlacC) and the National
Skills Authority (NSA).

Since 1994, a number of programmes have been put in place to achieve the
above vision. Among those are the following:

* the realisation of the vision of the reconstruction and development
programme towards our youth by institutionalising youth development through the
setting up of Youth Commissions

* the Youth Commission have been set up to advise government on youth
development. It has no implementing powers

* Umsobomvu Youth Fund was also set up as a response to policy
recommendations advanced by the youth sector to respond to the economic plight
of young South Africans

* government has also set up learnerships to respond to the skills shortages
experienced by young South Africans

* the integration of youth development into the key government programmes
such as the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP), and community development
workers also needs to be noted

* the challenge, however, still lies at local level where the actual service
delivery takes place. The call by the Youth Commission for the setting up of
youth desks or local youth units needs to be heeded with great urgency.

Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA)

In December 2005, government met with youth leadership in the Presidential
Youth Working Group to interrogate, among other issues, youth involvement in
realising the objectives of the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for
South Africa (AsgiSA).

Government welcomes the commitment made by the delegates who met earlier
this year to deliberate on what they expect from the AsgiSA intervention.

Government has made the following commitments with regard to integration of
youth development into AsgiSA:

* setting up of 100 new youth advisory centres
* enrolment of at least 10 000 young people in the NYS
* enrolment of 5 000 volunteers to act as mentors to vulnerable children
* expansion of the reach of our business support system to young people
* intensification of the youth co-operatives programme
* close monitoring of the impact of our programmes on youth skills training and
business empowerment as an integral part of our national effort.

The implementation of these interventions resides with the relevant
implementation agencies of government. The onus also lies with the youth
formations to assist the Youth Commission to monitor the implementation of
these initiatives. Most importantly, it should be the noted that these
envisaged initiatives should make concrete contribution in the improvement of
the quality of life of young South Africans.

Youth development since 1994

As recently stated since 1996 our country youth development has been driven
mainly though Youth Commissions at national and provincial levels. Above,
success of the Youth Commission model has been cited; however, some
shortcomings have also been observed. Some of those are the following:

* the absence of a uniform approach in the implementation of the model at
the provincial level which resulted into inconsistencies and disparities from
province to province
* some province such as the Free State and Eastern Cape were able to set up the
Youth Commissions within a short space time, while others such as the Western
Cape and Gauteng delayed and still do not have the youth commissions
* youth development matters were relegated to the periphery of key development
programmes
* inconsistencies also stifled inter-provincial collaboration among provinces
as there were no distinct youth development role players
*youth development has also to find expression within other competing
government priorities such as the provision of decent schools, sanitation,
electricity etc in the national quest to combat poverty and create work.

We all know the challenges facing youth in 2006. We have discussed them on
many occasions inside and outside government. We have no option but to
formulate strategies to eliminate systemic issues that confine our effort to
eradicate youth underdevelopment once and for all. I have stated in my previous
speeches that putting youth development on top of the growth and sharing
initiative is not a result of coincidence but a deliberate move by government
to eliminate these systemic issues.

We should avoid a temptation to judge state response to youth development
challenges only through the transfers we give to Umsobomvu and the Youth
Commission. Billions of rand are spent every year on programmes that facilitate
meaningful transition to adulthood and effective participation in all aspects
of life such as the world of work. The question we should ask is whether these
programmes yield quality results.

At the recent Presidential Youth Working Group meeting, the President
asked:

* Do we understand the contribution of the private sector in youth
development?
* Have we done an impact assessment of key youth development programmes and
institutions to identify those that work and improve others?

This gathering must engage and propose solutions to these questions. It must
avoid proposing solutions before scientifically identifying limitations. You
cannot offer a solution unless you know what the problem is.

As government our expectation of this convention is that it answers the
following:

a) How effective is the current youth policy framework? What are its
weaknesses? What changes are required?

b) What should be the pillars of the Integrated Youth Development Strategy
(IYDS) that will form part of the revised policy framework?

c) How can young people influence broader policies and programmes of
government from international trade to social development?

Conclusion

Answering these questions will certainly start bringing home more hope to
the many young people that their future is secured and very bright. This hope
should not only be evident in aspirations but should also start being concrete
to improve the lot of our young people. I therefore wish you a successful
deliberation in this convention.

Thank you!

Issued by: The Presidency
5 June 2006