Program Director
Executive Mayor of Sedibeng
MMCs Present
Councillors present
Youth Leaders
Community leaders
Ladies and Gentlemen
The future belongs to the youth. This statement is universally accepted as a fact. It is a fact that also applies to us in Gauteng. Gauteng is a very young province. According to mid-year population estimates of July 2010, the South African population increased by about 530 000 people to about 49.9 million. Of this number 31% is aged less than 15 years and about 20% of these young people live in Gauteng. The high population concentration in Gauteng which is about 98% is found in urban centres.
In essence, what these figures tell us is that we are indeed a very young and highly urbanised province. Our future is therefore dependent on the calibre of young people that we groom and mould. Since the greatest number of our future residents is currently youthful, it therefore means our plans should be geared towards serving their interests.
With this in mind, we have conceptualised and developed a long-term future plan with youth as the primary stakeholder. The Gauteng Vision 2055, also known as G2055, is the vision that seeks to place Gauteng in a position of a highly competitive city region in the world. It is a plan that will shape and influence the course of growth and development in Gauteng.
We are very much aware that no plan that seeks to determine the future of Gauteng will see the light of day if the process marginalise or undermines the input of young people. It is for this reason, amongst others, that we emphasise the involvement of young people in the crafting of this vision.
We launched G2055 Discussion Document for community and stakeholder consultation on 24 May 2012. Gauteng 2055 speaks to the long term development needs of the Gauteng City Region (GCR). It deals with a need to think beyond the short-term in order to create the type of generational change evident in many of the successful regions of the world.
Research carried out since 2005 has focused on the potential of the Gauteng City-Region establishing an understanding of this integrated cluster of cities, towns and nodes that together make up the economic heartland of South Africa.
Over the coming months we aim to run a dynamic public participation campaign that will capture the public’s imagination, building on the ideals and dreams represented in the Freedom Charter and the Constitution of our country.
To support community participation, we are starting with the roll out of Gauteng 2055 kiosks across our regions at shopping centres, campuses, taxi ranks and Thusong Service Centres. Leaflets about Gauteng 2055 are being distributed, encouraging members of the public to contribute their ideas. Citizens and members of civil society will be able to make submissions through various channels such as Izimbizo, email, online and social media platforms.
We will concentrate on all stakeholders including business and professional associations, labour, special interest groups representing women, children, the youth and people living with disabilities, Non-Governmental Organisation (NGOs), community based organisations (CBOs) and Faith Based Organisations, to name just a few. We will work with the Department of Education, as we encourage students in our schools to share their ideas with us.
It is the opportunity for all young people to influence and build the kind of Gauteng they would like to inherit. You will be the ultimate recipients of the GCR in 2055; the generation we will hand this future to. Seize the moment and be counted as we create the Gauteng that we all have to be proud of.
If then it is a universally acceptable fact that the future belongs to the young ones, it therefore makes more sense that the youth should be in the forefront of shaping and moulding the world they would like to inherit. There is no doubt in my mind that the country more than ever before needs a vibrant, focused and agenda-setting highly organised youth machinery; the youth force that conceptualises and articulates its program eloquently without any inhibition. The relevance of such a force is made more important by the current political space which is fraught with voices and agendas aimed at derailing the revolutionary programme of the democratic government led by the ANC.
In light of the prevailing socio-political conditions, there is a need for a strong and well organised youth force to lead the charge in defence and the advancement of the transformation programme should be encouraged and supported. The gains made will be reversed or even obliterated if the progressive youth formation is not committed and vigilant.
However, the success of our plans is also dependent on the production of knowledge and skills required by the economic conditions that prevails. Education and training is very important in the realisation of our goals. We need young people that have world class skills and leadership capacity that will turn things around for the better. In Gauteng almost 40% of our people have acquired a high school education. We need to increase this number so that we can be better place to compete with the outside world in areas of innovation, business, science and technology.
Moreover, for the aspirations of economic emancipation and youth empowerment to be realised, they should be accompanied by clear program of skills development and transfer. It is for this reason that in Gauteng we have prioritised the issue of youth training in areas of artisan, agro-processing, tool making, jewellery design and many others. We have entered into various joint ventures and collaborative programs with business and other stakeholders in order to facilitate the achievement of this goal. We are doing this so that we can in the long run produce young people who are dependable and highly enterprising. It is this commitment in skills development and education by government that the youth must exploit.
Program Director
In Gauteng alone youth between the ages 15-35 years constitute 37.2% of the total population. The rate of youth unemployment is higher in Gauteng because young people are attracted by the availability of opportunities and prospects of cracking it in Maboneng, Johannesburg. Various studies have indicated that unemployment in the province increased and in 2010 about 55% of 15-24 year olds were unemployed as compared to 51% nationally. And the majority of those who are employed are either employed in informal sector or as part-time workers.
What concerns us most is the fact that the majority of unemployed youth is concentrated in the townships. Townships are far from many job opportunities because of their location outside the urban edge or economic nodes. Most of the unemployed in these areas are unskilled and semi skilled unable to be absorbed by the formal economy because the Gauteng economy is largely concentrated in tertiary sectors which require skilled and knowledgeable workers.
In light of this situation, as Gauteng government we resolved to develop and implement the Youth Employment Strategy. We decided to respond directly to the plight of young people in Township and Semi-Rural areas by seeking to develop Youth owned Economic Hubs. The identification of these hubs as centres of business exchange is through the municipalities and community members including young people in the main with the view of uplifting young business owners and entrepreneurs that reside and originate from the area.
Through the Gauteng Department of Economic Development, which is the driver of our strategy, we plan to develop three types of hubs in the first phase. These will include Automotive Hub; Enterprise Hub; and Industrial Hub. The department has registered good progress in the implementation of the project through the completion of the conceptual designs (architectural designs), the finalisation of the commercial cases inclusive of the financial model.
The Marketing and Communication Plan has been completed and ready for implementation. We are planning a series of launches of the enterprise hubs throughout the Month of June with an aim of showcasing, forging partnership and mobilising our communities. Today, we are launching the first in the series of the Youth Enterprise Hubs.
The role of the private sector in the implementation of the Youth Employment Strategy is critical. The establishment of the township enterprise hubs is based dependent amongst others on the enterprise development finance, equity funding and off take agreements. Through the Department of Economic Development, we have engaged partners like MTN, Consumer Goods Council of South Africa particularly Massmart to assist entrepreneurs with bulk buying. The Township Enterprise Hubs will be granted the Limited Payout Machine (LPM) licenses for young entrepreneurs to get into the industry.
Furthermore, we launched the Maize Triangle Strategy with an aim of reviving the economy of this region in particular. Many young people suffer from a perception that associate agriculture and farming with old and about retire adults. It is a wrong perception. In order to address the issues of food security we need young people to start getting involve in this sector of economy. Already 12 agro-processing projects have been supported and Agri-Park with 10 flower production tunnels built in Onverwacht as part of the Agricultural hub implementation plan.
We are also working hard to ensure that the multibillion Sedibeng Sewer project is a success. Most of the stakeholders have already committed resources and business plans have been completed. This project will inject much needed economic life in this region. And it is a project that young people must be involved in by providing the necessary expertise for it to fly.
Program Director
Today, we are still sadly faced with a challenge of economic injustice. Majority of our people are subjected to this situation. The economy has been showing signs of both growth and relative stability in the past few years but the economic benefits have not been equitably spread and shared amongst all. Generally, it has not been an inclusive economy to an extent that a blue collar worker can fully enjoy the equitable distribution of the fruits of his toil. This is a challenge; the challenge of economic injustice.
We are therefore required to critically engage with this objective reality by determining a clear course of action that will lead to the attainment of what our forebears expressed in unambiguous terms when drafting the Freedom Charter in 1955. It is our duty as the future leaders of society to lead in a fight against poverty, contribute in the creation of job opportunities and promotion of economic justice. Economic freedom is mandatory and cannot be turned into a past time engagement designed to delay its attainment. It is the freedom whose determination and outcome should be spearheaded by the masses as opposed to an elitist clique of economists.
The cries of our people are growing louder and louder by the day on these matters. Their patience is being overstretched and tested daily by act of procrastination and dilly-dallying.
Much of what we must achieve will be determined by the level of commitment, discipline and sacrifice by young people. Our country needs an active cadre of young people who participate in processes that contribute towards making South Africa a better country. We cannot have an innovative and enterprising nation if our young ones spend much of their time consuming drugs and related substances. In order for us to be globally competitive, we need a youth that spends time in laboratories, libraries, sports fields, creative art centres and other incubator centres. This does not only empower but instil a sense of belonging which many of our young people require today.
Program Director
In conclusion, I want to urge everyone participating in this important gathering to work towards finding the solutions that will take the growth of this region to new heights. It is through the sharing of ideas that the great economies of the world were build. I trust the caliber of participants we have here will without any doubt focus on matters that will change the conditions of the young people and the general community of Sedibeng.
Dankie. Ngiyabonga.
Address by Gauteng Premier, Ms Nomvula Mokonyane, during the occasion of the Youth Summit in Sedibeng District
Province
