Programme Director,
MEC for Human settlements in Mpumalanga, Ms Violet Siwela
Minister of Human Settlements, Ms Lindiwe Sisulu
Minister of Small Business Development, Ms Lindiwe Zulu
Members of the media
Young people
Ladies and gentlemen;
It is impressive that last month alone 76 houses built by 100 young men and women volunteers were handed over to families at Lindelani Informal Settlement and contributed in the restoration of the dignity of that community.
Today, we are demonstrating that although young people are confronted with challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequality they are still capable of various acts of solidarity and do not expect a handout but a hand up to effect change in society.
This is very critical given the fact that some leaders in our society are advocating and instigating our youth to resort to thuggery, hooliganism and easy solutions as to deal with these challenges as we have seen outside of Tshwane, in Nelmapius, for instance.
The United Nations acknowledged in 2000, the need for youth specific country policies and strategies that aim at enabling young people to make the right choices, protect them from exploitation and neglect and ensure their participation in all spheres of society.
The United Nations World Programme of Action for Youth to the Year 2000 and beyond, adopted in 2005, identifies ten priority areas: education, employment, hunger and poverty, health, environment, drug abuse, juvenile delinquency, leisure-time activities, girls and young women and youth participating in decision-making and other areas such as HIV/AIDS, ICT and Intergenerational dialogue.
South Africa too, building on the United Nations World Programme of Action for Youth to the Year 2000 and beyond and the African Youth Charter and other relevant youth frameworks; and after extensive consultation with young people, came up with the Youth policy 2009-2014 as required also by the constitution of our republic. This youth policy is now reaching its last “legs”.
A process to develop a new policy 2014-2019 has begun. This policy 2014 -2019 will rely heavily on the review of the current policy and build on improving existing youth specific policies; disengaging with ones we view as not effective.
The 2014-2019 National Youth Policy formulation process will be very inclusive. Workshops will be planned throughout the country. Please participate to inform this policy. Tell us what works and what does not. Help us identify priority areas for specific policies. Help us ensure that the new policy is crafted in such a way that it is not an add-on to the development agenda but it is the development agenda.
This new National Youth Policy regime will enable increased economic participation and inclusion of youth, enhanced youth civic engagement and participation in decision-making and political processes and institutions as well as strengthen youth engagement in resilience building.
Existing initiatives that the National Youth Policy will build on must include:
- The youth programmes driven by the NYDA: this youth build, the Second Chance National Senior Certificate. Rewrite programme, the Youth Development Institute; small grants; job placements, job readiness: Youth Development Workers.
- Increasing NFSAS and building more institutions: Total head-count enrolments tertiary institutions have increased from just over 345 000 in 2010 to an estimated 650 000 in 2013;
- The numerous government/business/trade union partnerships spearheaded by the Department of higher education and EDD that benefit young people. The Technical and Vocational Education and training in particular, now has a strong workplace learning component and is being improved. In improving this partnership, the aim is to make colleges produce work ready artisans.
- The Youth Accord, signed in March 2013 between business, labour and government talks to youth skills development and economic inclusion. One of its immediate fruits was the establishment of the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) R1 billion Youth Enterprise Fund in partnership with NYDA and Small Enterprise Finance Agency.
While the National Development Plan provides specific interventions that aim at harnessing the creativity of young people and includes:
- Improving the school system, including increasing the number of students achieving above 50 percent in literacy and mathematics, increasing learning retention rates to 90 percent and bolstering teacher training.
- Strengthening youth service programmes and introduce new, community-based programmes to offer young people life-skills training, entrepreneurship training and opportunities to participate in community development programmes.
- Strengthening and expanding the number of Technical Vocational Education and Training colleges to increase the participation rate to 25 percent.
- Increasing the graduation rate of TVET colleges to 75 percent.
- Providing full funding assistance covering tuition, books, accommodation and living allowance to students from poor families.
- Introducing a tax incentive to employers to reduce the initial cost of hiring young labour-market entrants and a subsidy to the placement sector to identify, prepare and place matric graduates into work. The subsidy will be paid upon successful placement.
- Formalising a graduate recruitment scheme for the public service to attract highly skilled people.
- Expanding the role of state-owned enterprises in training artisans and technical professionals.
We must continue to build a localised approach towards dealing with structural poverty by targeting local investment into asset building, infrastructure and services. Supporting these interventions can be organized in manner that increases young people participation together with their communities in setting priorities that promote greater cohesion and participation in decision making.
This is where initiatives such as Youth Build come through for young people. This programme responds to the identified challenges by providing a skill, a job opportunity as well as an opportunity to give back to society. This initiative and others in place within the NYDA and various government departments as well as the new ones suggested in the NDP aim rightly so at turning young people into an important asset and community builders.
It strengthens the voice of the marginalised and poor by creating strong links between the state and local communities. Programmes such as this can contribute and supplement other programmes such as the Community Works Programme that serves very similar objectives.
All over the world, youth are driving social change and innovation, claiming respect for their fundamental human rights and freedoms, and seeking new opportunities to learn and work together for a better future.
Similar programmes have been successfully initiated in other countries such as Cuba where the Cuban Technical Youth Brigades (BTJ), a grass-root movement made up by young inventors and improvisers, are carrying out a series of activities in different provinces and includes program of activities that are voluntary works channeled into reforesting the surrounding areas belonging to the “26 de Julio” cement manufacturing plant in Nuevitas, an industrial facility and that includes other activities
They came into existence in 1964 as part of the Young Communist League of Cuba (UJC), following the country’s social and economic needs to create a non-profit technical workforce aimed at promoting social change, national prosperity and development in the fields of science and technology.
The brigades are made up of young volunteers, graduated from universities and technical training schools nationwide, which are passionate about making a positive difference by volunteering for scientific and economic activity.
BTJ stress the importance of working in line with the country’s priorities, and of encouraging the youth to contribute their talent and creativity to the nation by joining the brigades.
These examples are important in developing our own brand of youth brigade movement in SA that will work around improving social cohesion, promoting social change and building a programme around national priorities. Such a brand can create positive association built on key programmes through the development of a grass-roots movement that support the development and upgrade of communities.
Youth brigade initiatives can be organized around a unified slogan that young people can rally around and that can guide young people in building a society for the future, that sees young people provide positive contributions in making their towns a better place to live in, that provides protection to vulnerable groups and helps to plan and participate in projects.
This new strategy must enable increased economic empowerment of youth, enhanced youth civic engagement and participation in decision-making and political processes and institutions as well as strengthen youth engagement in building community support
Youth Brigades must organise themselves in groups with clear structures and programmes to support social and economic transformations of poor communities, including support the rollout of human settlements.
Existing initiatives that the youth strategy will include are
- Supporting CWP projects in townships that focus on improving human settlements and better spatial designs like parks or spaces to gather and conduct sporting, cultural and other events.
- Support schooling renewable energy programmes.
- Allow young people to improve their education by enrolling to do second chance matric rewrite programme.
- The National Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Framework Strategy talks to interventions that aim at reducing incidents of STIs, HIV and AIDS and TB.
Young people must be drivers and agents of change and ensure that they are not passive recipients of government services. You must be active and involved in your communities and not be part of those who destroy them but redirect energies to build and protecting communities As government we believe that you, more than ever before, are change-makers.
Let us collectively work towards building a grassroots Youth Build Programme organised on the principles of social partnership and cohesion, build dignity and organize around national priorities that can build better societies one step at a time.
In conclusion, Programme Director, While all these existing policies and initiatives show that there is a lot being done by, with and for young people in preparing them for meaningful engagement in society and in the economy, the review of existing policy must affirm the principle that young people are beneficiaries and agents of change and not merely passive recipients of government services.
The shaping of young people as active and productive citizens is critical for the production of a 'demographic dividend'.
We as government believe that you, more than ever before, are change-makers. You must take advantage of what government and government partners offers to build new realities for ourselves and your communities.
All over the world, youth are driving social change and innovation, claiming respect for their fundamental human rights and freedoms, and seeking new opportunities to learn and work together for a better future.
I thank you.
