Honourable Chairperson,
Honourable Members:
Thirty-five years have passed since that fateful and yet heroic youth uprising that started in Soweto on 16 June 1976.
The nation still has not forgotten, both about the naked brutality of the system of apartheid as well as the remarkable heroism and extraordinary courage of all those that fought against the system, young and old, male and female, both black and white.
It is important that we refuse to forget, lest we expose ourselves to the risk of repeating the errors as well as the folly of the past.
We must continue to teach the youth about the supreme effort it took to bring country to where it is today, so that they reject the proposition of those that demand that we should now forget.
To commemorate such occasions as the 35th Anniversary of 16 June 1976 Uprising is to allow the martyrs of the past to open our eyes as we closed theirs when they died.
What we should strive for is to use such commemorations to unite our youth, both black and white. Our history as well as our future must be occasions to unite and not divide us. In commemorating the historic landmarks of our struggle, the imprints of the past on today, we must advocate for a unifying perspective that places high on the banner the collective interests of all South Africans.
These occasions allow us to heal together as a nation as well as focus our eyes on the challenges facing the youth of our nation.
To the youth of South Africa this we must say that it is an honour to serve your people and to sacrifice in their name.
However, whereas in the past the youth often had to die for the nation, today they must live for the nation.
In paying tribute to the youth of 1976, we are paying tribute at the same time to all the generations of youth, both before and after 1976, that participated in the struggle for freedom.
June 16 dramatised the indignation of the youth towards the system of apartheid and their unwavering faith in united action and the liberating power of education.
Lest we forget that it was in these Chambers through the Apartheid parliament that such laws were pronounced that gave reality to a human right violation and injustice made law to give truth to a lie.
The youth of 1976 exchanged their lives to uncover this lie and lay it bare before the peoples of the whole world.
The theme of this debate, “Parliament in Action: advancing youth development to break the cycle of generational poverty and unemployment”, serves as a constant reminder of the task we have to perform of continuing to dismantle the apartheid legacy.
This theme places a huge task in this democratic Parliament, the tribune of our people.
We stand here today in this debate presented with an opportunity to ask ourselves some pertinent questions as to how much both in content and form, have we progressed in delivering the society Hector Peterson yearned for as he stared death in the face and his final hour struck.
It is true that Parliament, both the NCOP and NA, must provide a platform to infuse the realities of our people into law-making and thus give meaning and justification to their struggles!
Accordingly, conversations such as this one must help our citizenry, especially our youth, to breath the energy and robustness inherent in their age to revolutionise the process of legislation and oversight of this sphere of government!
The role the NCOP has played in raising the youth debate in the past is laudable. This House has not been found wanting in its obligation to recognise and acknowledge the historic role of our youth in liberating South Africa.
Of course, many among those produced in the trenches by youth struggles are now sitting here as Honourable members.
In particular, the NCOP continues to work hard in promoting the socio-economic rights as enshrined in our Constitution and Bill of Rights.
The issues of youth development have found pride of place and have been placed high on the NCOP’s agenda.
The social and economic progress made by South Africa, is outlined in the 2010 Development Indicators, issued by the Presidency that:
- Real income and poverty headcount indicators show improvements in living standards of the poor, explained in part by rising social grants transfers;
- Spending on education continues to increase by 16% from 2007/08 to 201/11, with additional allocations of R243 billion over the medium-term, among others to improve school infrastructure, increase access for poor students at Further Education and Training (FET) colleges and universities.
- A mention should be made of the bold step by the Minister of Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) radically to restructure the Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) regime, to ensure effectiveness and efficiency in delivering the skills requisite to the needs of this economy. Also, the hands-on approach of the Department of Basic Education to put under its administration the ailing of the Eastern Cape education.
- The percentage of households in formal dwellings has increased from an estimated 64% in 1996 to 76% in 2009.
- The HIV prevalence has been stabilised, mother-to-child transmission has dropped to a paltry 3% and Government has been at the forefront of intensifying its campaign against HIV and AIDS.
This gives us a dip-stick of the performance of the Policy choices we have made, and the pace at which such is realised. What it points to is that whilst much has been achieved since 1994, the dream of total emancipation that inspired the youth of Soweto 35 years ago is still worth pursuing, as it is still far from achievement.
Clearly, urgency is required, especially to reverse the tide of youth unemployment which, according to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey, has worsened over the past two years.
Youth accounted for about 40% of all job-losses during 2009/10, as the employment of the 15-24 year olds fell by 21.8%. Almost 15 million working-age adults are under 30 years of age, equal to just under half of the country’s working age population (46%);
This situation of youth unemployment has been prevalent since before apartheid’s demise.
The truth is that whereas youth unemployment is a result of aggregate unemployment in the economy, it would be total folly to argue that because of this, perforce, we should first create aggregate employment in order to address youth unemployment.
This would totally neglect the fact that there are specific conditions in the labour market that create youth unemployment and therefore specific interventions are required in order to create employment for youth and facilitate their economic participation.
The New Growth Path proposes the long-needed paradigm shift and places the issue of youth development high on its agenda.
Since 1996, South Africa ushered in youth development institutions and machinery to allow the interface between civil and political society on matters of youth.
We have ratified the Africa Youth Charter and Cabinet adopted the second generation National Youth Policy.
These have been supported by a range of support programmes and strategies to empower youth in the various line functions such as:
- Expanded Public Works Programmes (EPWP) initiatives that saw young people involved in the refurbishment, rehabilitation, and maintenance of community infrastructure across the country.
- Youth focal points in more than 60% of the government departments, where direct engagement with youth takes place.
- Several Departments have established youth development machinery at all tiers.
- Learnerships and internships focussed on raising the skills capacity of young people through SETAs.
- The upcoming launch of the Integrated Youth Development Strategy as pronounced by the NYDA.
It is apparent, that as a country, we have been engaged in finding the solution to the complex problems faced by our youth today.
In line, with the current trend of outcomes measurement, we must preoccupy ourselves with measuring precisely how all these endeavours come together to change the face of poverty and unemployment that continues to be younger, African, rural; and female in complexion.
We must implore our National Planning Commission, as it tries to present a vision of what type of a nation we wish to be, also to address itself to the situation our youth find themselves in.
That must clearly bring everyone together towards a common effort to steer the youth towards economic participation.
This House must find creative ways to factor in its DNA the recommendations made by the Independent Panel assessment of Parliament commissioned in 2009 that called for a systematic and structured approach to ensure the integration of youth voices mobilised through these Youth debates and Youth Parliaments and provide feedback to the participants.
All of this we must do in order to empower our youth for their historic responsibilities at the head of the transformation of our country, bearing in mind that that youth are the constructors, the inheritors and inhabitants of the future.
The skills required to accomplish this task are vastly and radically different to those required to defeat apartheid. For the youth to accomplish these historic tasks, they need education to master new knowledge, science, technology and skills.
In that effort, they need the support and contribution of the entire nation.
Older generations have taken us this far. To the youth of South Africa we say, a glorious future awaits; pursue it relentlessly!
Finally, I would like to wish the ANC Youth League’s well in its National Congress and to congratulate it for continuing to be a preparatory school for young revolutionary democrats of our movement and our country!
I thank you.
