Message of support by Deputy Minister in the Presidency for Planning Monitoring and Evaluation, Buti Manamela at the Heritage Day celebration in Gugulethu, Cape Town
Minister of Public Enterprises, Ms Lynne Brown,
Deputy Minister of Land Affairs and Rural development; Mcebisi Skwatsha,
Councillors present here,
Members of the media,
Ladies and gentlemen.
I am heartened by this opportunity to speak to you on this heritage day and pledge our support for the wonderful work done here by the Gugulethu Development Forum and the Department of Public Enterprises.
To the Minister and Department of Public Enterprises, you are putting into practice that which we have been and continue to preach. Providing young people with bursaries and internship opportunities is one of the ways that we can turn the tide on youth unemployment and begin to skill young (particularly black) people to participate in our economy.
I am informed that yesterday there was a career and information expo aimed at assisting young people with career guidance and opportunities. This is indeed a commendable initiative and we fully support it.
This is truly the kind of work that will take South Africa forward and ensure the preservation of our rich heritage.
Today we celebrate heritage day under the theme, Celebrating 20 years of Freedom: Tell your story that moves South Africa forward. The dance and music items that have been rendered here are some of the ways that young people in Gugulethu are telling their stories. I urge you to continue telling those stories in the various and diverse ways you have been doing.
Our parents are telling stories of how they have defeated the colonial masters and in defense of their land and heritage, and how they brought down the ugly system of apartheid to its knees and freed Mandela from Robben Island prison.
As young people, we should tell stories about how we continued with the great trek of building a better South Africa, a better Western Cape and a better Gugulethu.
As compared to our parents, we are better placed and have more opportunities presented by the democratic dispensation. Thus, we will sing a different tune and tell a different story about how ours was more to move South Africa forward.
I want us to use this heritage day differently. Since the word heritage means “inherited from the past”, I want us to use the past to correct some of the social ills that our society is bereft with.
Young people today are telling stories in theatre as actors, on stage as musicians and poets, in boardrooms as businesspeople, in workshops as workers, in the streets as the unemployed, in schools and universities as scholars, in parliament as public representatives and in big offices as government bureaucrats.
In telling these stories we need to remember the basics that we inherited from the past. We should tell our stories firmly, radically, without fear, and clearly articulate what our needs, interests and aspirations are. We should emulate those who came before us such as Peter Mokaba, Chris Hani, Tsietsi Mashinini, Steve Biko and many others who carried the weight of society in their shoulders.
However, we should never forget to do all these with respect. Being militant does not mean we should be rude and display lack of discipline. Being radical does not mean we should be condescending and utterly proud in the face of our equals and elders.
That is utterly un-African and uncultured and we should in the strongest of terms condemn such behavior. In many instances, our right to hold an opinion will diminish as fast as we raise our finger towards other people in a sign of disrespect.
A week ago I was handed a report by Statistician General Pali Lehohla entitled, Employment, Skills and Unemployment in South Africa. The report painted a worrying picture of the levels of skills gained young black people in the last twenty years. I will be working with all the government departments to ensure that we reverse the tide and make policy and resource interventions that turns around the plight of coloured and black African youth.
We are here in Gugulethu today where the quality of service delivery cannot be compared to the service delivery of the leafy suburbs of Durbanville, Thornton and so on and so forth. We still have a long way to go in addressing the disparities that exist between the various areas of this Province.
Today townships like Gugulethu are still charactarised by poverty, joblessness, weak institutions and gross inequalities. This is evident in the Statistics SA report on Employment, Skills and Unemployment which states that black people even though had gained skills for the job market, still fared much less than their white and Indian peers.
Employment levels are very low especially amongst graduates; hence I am pleased that state owned enterprises such as Eskom, Transnet, SAA, Denel, are here to bring these opportunities to the young people of Gugulethu so that they too can become active participants in the economy.
Ladies and gentlemen
This is but one example of the programmes initiated by government in partnership with other sectors of society to ensure that young South Africans are brought on board in the economic transformation of this country and are skilled to meet the demands of this growing economy.
There is still much more that could be done to deracinate young people in rural areas out of poverty, unemployment and inequality.
Over the next few months we will be releasing the draft National Youth Policy for discussion with young people. I call on you to make the best of these discussions and ensure that the policy is used to advance youth employment, youth enterprise, youth co-operatives and youth education and skills development.
I will be looking forward to your fresh and incisive inputs in the discussions.
As a final word to teenagers, “School is Cool”; “Don’t Do Drugs”, all the best in your end of year examinations.
I thank you.
