Programme Director,
Acting HoD,
Executive Management,
Senior Management,
Organised labour Nehawu and PSA,
Young men and women,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Good day,
It is a great honour and a privilege for me to address you today as we gather to join in the month-long commemoration of the 1976 June 16 student uprising. Thirty eight (38) years ago, the youth of this country took to the streets in protest against apartheid laws. This anniversary comes in the wake of the recently held Fifth General Elections since the advent of our democracy in 1994, in which the youth asserted itself as an important voting constituency of our national electorate.
June 16 1976 is the most significant date in the calendar of the liberation struggle against white rule in South Africa. I am sure that gathered here are people who know and do not easily forget their history. Because if we have forgotten, we will be betraying the sacrifices of the children of Soweto, Alexandra and many other townships that raised their black power fists in 1976 and said enough is enough.
With his departure, the department obviously lost an outstanding executive administrator. Most probably the other department will be happy enough to get an executive manager of his immeasurable qualities.
Without the gallant actions of those youth of 1976, it is difficult to see how we as a nation could have arrived at a place where we are at present and achieved the freedom we are enjoying today. Were we ever going to relate the good story of 20 years of democracy and freedom? Were we ever going to state that South Africa is a much better place to live in than it was in 1994 and that the lives of millions of our people have improved.
History has recorded that many of those youth paid the ultimate sacrifice with their lives so that we could reap the rewards of freedom that we are enjoying today. Yes, so many years have passed since June 1976, and so many years have passed since 1994, the year in which South Africa tasted the sweet fruit of political freedom and democracy, yet our youth are still faced with a lot of challenges, among them unemployment. This challenge has since been identified together with poverty and inequality as the triple challenges that continue to affect the lives of many people.
This day should surely remind us of the courage, determination and sacrifice demonstrated by young men and women of our country dismantling the shackles of apartheid, which was the challenge of the time.
This gathering is in line with our firm belief that young people of all races and religions ought to be equally empowered and motivated to make a difference in this province and the country at large. We must take cue from the youth of 1976 and participate in matters of national interest. You have an important role to play in nation building and welfare of all our people. The advantage is that, something the youth of 1976 did not have, the youth of today live in a free society and face different challenges. The youth in a free and democratic South Africa face problems that may as well demand that kind of sacrifice albeit in bloodless fashion if they are to bestow a much better South Africa on those who will walk in their footsteps in future.
Nelson Mandela once said: "Our youth are our future. In your hands is the key to make South Africa a great country, to make our society a prosperous and caring nation". We commemorate this day because we know that without proper guidance for our future leaders, our efforts to provide jobs, better health facilities, better housing, water, electricity and other needs will not be sustained. Delivery of these human rights needs requires youth with knowledge and skills.
We want our young employees to make good use of bursary opportunities to study and improve themselves educationally for the betterment of our department. We cannot forever outsource skills which our young employees can acquire and return to assist our struggling municipalities in the province. We want our young employees in the department to exhibit energy and creativity as we deliver without fail on these important basic needs. We cannot afford to see them getting by and not doing much more as expected. Remember it is the young trees that strengthen the forest.
We need to broaden the province’s skills base. And for us to lay claim to progress, it will be when our young entrepreneurs, engineers, economists, physicists and other scientists emerge from our villages and townships and go out to make ours a winning country in the family of nations. It means we must make available opportunities that are empowering in nature and this should be a priority. We must, as a Department, respond without any form of excuses to the President’s call as outlined in his State of the Nation Address on 17 June 2014 when he said: “We will expand the number of internship positions in the public sector, with every government department and public entity being required to take on interns for experiential training”. We all know that employers emphasize a certain amount of experience before a person is hired. We must as a department focus on special measures to ensure that the youth have access to training, work experience, jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities.
As we pay tribute to the generation of 1976, we must know that the fight begun by young people in 1976 is not over, but it is now a different fight. We are today fighting youth unemployment, poverty and inequality. We must recognise the fact that young people have a valid input to make in shaping the future of this country. We need the young ones who will see things differently, do things differently and we must emphasise the importance of being fond of rules and regulations that guide every government transaction. I am saying this because a recent survey has shown that young South Africans would rather work for the state than take the entrepreneurial route. It is therefore critical for our youth working for government to be conscious of this important responsibility of following laws of government.
They must know that it is a responsibility that needs skills, expertise and substance in order to deliver successfully on the mandate of government. It demands a lot of sacrifice to make the lives of our people better and our youth must know that this country is a nation at work and we must continue working with our youth to be a nation at work. Youth must work to usher in all the new things that will indeed take this country forward and also inherit some important things that have kept government going and delivering.
It is encouraging to note that as part of what the President said we must do to speed up the employment of young people, the department has since 2004 given more than 800 interns workplace exposure and experience. A lot of this number has secured employment in our department and some are occupying managerial positions in the department. We must as the president requires of each and every government department and entity intensify this work based experience programme.
Countries all over the world know that the youth are the greatest asset any country can ever have. We need to ask ourselves if indeed we are doing enough in training and skilling our young people in a manner that is empowering. We must ask ourselves what the youth are doing to drive social change and how best they can be assisted and supported to develop better.
It is a known fact that the youth in this country make up a majority of South Africa`s population. And it is high time that we mastered the art of empowering our young people 20 years into our democratic dispensation. People under the age of 34 make up about 72 percent of the country`s unemployed. While there is no doubt that this high unemployment rate is partly because of apartheid, we just cannot blame the past forever. We should not allow the past to get into the way of the future.
As we commemorate the Youth Month, let me take this opportunity to welcome the launch of the Departmental Youth Forum. It is the first of its kind in the department and we expect the forum to champion youth programmes that are empowering in nature in order to achieve economic transformation of government. We wish them luck as they thrash out challenges facing the youth in and outside the department in a manner that will make the necessary impact in the lives of our people. We expect you to work harmoniously in order to achieve the goals of youth development.
It is a fact that the future belongs to the Youth. And that if we do not take care of them the country`s future is doomed. All of us also know the challenges that the country faces if the majority of its youth are unemployed.
As I conclude, let me emphasize that we need to value the importance of celebrating youth month and do so with the knowledge and understanding of how fortunate we are, and then we will be able to make a meaningful impact in our communities as young people. Bear in mind that, at the end of the day, your progress will depend on how you apply yourselves to your work. The road to a better life demands hard work and smart thinking. It demands discipline, patience and a great sense of responsibility. The youth of 1976 were in the forefront of the liberation struggle. Today you must be in the forefront of development as you fight poverty, inequality and unemployment. These are the new and bigger challenges that are facing the youth.
We are confident that you are more than ready to meet the challenges of development and empowering one another wherever you are. We are firm in our conviction that you deserve a better future and together we can build a brighter future and move South Africa forward.
I thank you.
