Programme director
Honourable Premier of the Northern Cape, Mme Hazel Jenkins
Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee for Higher Education, Rre Marius Fransman
Honourable MEC for Social Development, Rre Alwin Botes
Honourable MEC for Environmental Affairs and Nature Conservation, Mme Sylvia Lucas
Departmental Heads of departments and government officials
Chief executive officers and representatives of the Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs)
Youth leadership and the young people of the Northern Cape province Comrades and friends
Ladies and gentlemen
Good morning to you all. It is my pleasure to be here in the Northern Cape and I thank you for the warm welcome. I hope you are as excited about being here as I am. I have been eagerly looking forward to this launch.
From the outset, I deem it a privilege to be able to participate in this important occasion. I would like to congratulate both the Northern Cape government as well as the Department of Social Development for taking this initiative.
However, I consider this initiative as part of a continuum of initiatives taken by the African National Congress since 1994 to address the various concerns of youth.
As you all know, youth in South Africa covers the population between the age group of 15 to 35 years which constitutes about 15 million comprising 34 percent of the total South African population. In the Northern Cape alone, youth constitutes 30.08 percent of the entire Northern Cape population. These statistics give us a very good idea of the vast human resource that the youth represent in this province and in our country.
This occasion takes on even greater significance partly due to the fact that it is being held a few days after President Zuma launched the annual Child Protection Week campaign when our government recommitted itself to nurture and protect our children so they can grow into responsible young citizens of this country.
The occasion follows on the heels of the International Day for Families which was held on the 15 May every year. The golden thread that runs through commemoration of the International Day for Families and the Balelapa household survey is the common goal of building and strengthening families.
As government, our aim is to build strong families the family is the first line of response. Since coming into government the African National Congress (ANC) has placed the well being of families and their members at the heart of government programmes.
We cannot succeed in our endeavours to protect children if we do not build strong families. Our mission of building caring communities that protect children cannot be realised if the foundation of our society, the family is not resilient.
This occasion also takes on added significance for another reason: in few days we will be entering June which is traditionally observed as a Youth Month. It is therefore inspiring to see the youth of this province following in the footsteps of the class of 1976 and becoming part of the solution to the developmental challenges that confront our country.
As you know, the youth of our country have always been in the forefront. Be it our struggle for liberation or our quest for development, the South African youth have played a pivotal role in shaping this country.
Very often the real contribution of young persons in our communities and society as a whole is obscured by negative stereotypes and references which describe them as a "lost generation". Contrary to this belief, our experience shows that youth are very responsive to the national challenges.
What they need is proper support, training and opportunities to channel their positive energy into nation building. Our gathering here today is testimony that given the opportunity, young people can become catalysts of change and development.
Like their counterparts throughout the world, the South African youth face a number of monumental challenges. Among these challenges are:
* Poverty
* Crime and violence
* Drug and alcohol abuse
* HIV and AIDS
* The shrinking labour market (unemployment)
Comrades and friends, one of the challenges identified by the study conducted by the Department of Social Development is youth migration. Every year hundreds or thousands of able Northern Cape youth migrate to the big cities in pursuit of opportunities such as education and employment.
Let me make my point clearer. Migration is not totally a negative thing because it has a positive impact. International research has shown that youth migration is a coping mechanism for young people to escape poverty and life of hardship.
This is corroborated by the findings of this study which show that the youth of this province view migration as an avenue to improve their social status, learn new skills, gain a sense of pride, self respect and for them to be seen as leaders within their families and the broader community.
But we have every reason to be concerned when a large number of youth migrate from this province without returning back to their communities of origin where their new acquired skills are needed most.
Since the root causes of youth migration in this province were identified as the lack of sufficient education and employment opportunities, policy efforts that empower and youth into the local communities are necessary to counter the desire to migrate.
Through these policy initiatives, such as the one we are launching here today, the youth have to realise their role in nation building and development of this province.
Young people, the time has come for you to take up the central responsibility of building your communities and this province instead of you leaving this task at the hands of the older generation.
This project is located within the broader context and as complementary to the War on Poverty campaign which rests on the premise that fighting poverty cannot simply be the responsibility of government alone. The central feature of this campaign is to facilitate household access to basic government services such as health, education, water, to name a few.
In this regard, I am pleased to note that the Sector Education and Training Authorities have joined hands with the provincial government to address the question of skills development among young people in this province. Indeed, working together we can do more.
Ladies and gentlemen, our biggest challenge is to reach all categories of youth within our society and to make sure that each one of them has an equal opportunity to participate in community development and nation building activities.
It is in this regard that we must see a greater need to engage various government agencies in youth development. The prime objective must always be to reduce the number of marginalised youths by bringing their needs to the surface, and to design interventions that are aimed at strengthening the participation of young people in development.
Honourable premier and MECs, it is important that, through the partnerships forged here today, we take an integrated approach to youth development all levels of government. It is without question that an active youth sector is an essential element of any truly democratic society.
It is for this reason that the Department of Social Development is currently implementing the Masupatsela Youth Pioneer programme through which we seek to engage young people in community oriented work while at the same time providing value shaping education.
The ultimately goal of this programme is to facilitate the entry or re-entry of young people who go through this programme into the education system.
The experience of combining work and study through internships, apprenticeships and student jobs opportunities will improve skills, attitudes and indeed labour market entry for young people. Education and skills development is perhaps the most important "economic opportunity" we can provide for young people.
In the last 15 years, government has been addressing young people's concerns and challenges by mainstreaming them in various government departments and agencies as overall challenges of development. In actual fact, the bulk of government's work and strategies is focused and directed at young people and those who are most vulnerable in our society.
A number of government interventions and programmes such as the Extended Public Works Programme (EPWP), Further Education and Training (FET) schools, scholarships, internship (learnership) opportunities and social crime prevention programmes are aimed at improving the lives of young people in our country.
There is of course, only so much that government can do, we need partnerships between all sectors of society, from the national government, civil society, local government and the community as a whole to comprehensively address the challenges identified by the survey.
The family, community, public and private sectors must play complementary roles in providing a continuum of services for young people. Building a caring society requires that we put the very people that form the foundation of our country's future, the youth, at the heart of our interventions.
It is my view and that of our government that we must all work together to prevent our youth from falling into the high risk cohort and give those already at risk a second chance to succeed in life.
Honourable premier, you will agree with me that the War on Poverty calls for collective action. The partnership agreement that we are about to sign here today is a step in the right direction because it gives us a mandate to forge meaningful cooperation in the field of social and skills development.
Through this partnership, we are coming together to respond to the challenges of our time and to build a society in which the people of this province, both young and old can prosper and fulfil their potential.
This partnership will also see us working together and accelerating our efforts in the areas of skills development, poverty reduction and sustainable rural development. These are the priorities of the government of the African National Congress.
As we manage the changes and transitions experienced by our nation, we must look ahead confidently and at all times and be guided by a national interest. We must remain resolute in our fight to push back the frontiers of poverty.
Although the enormity of the challenges confronting us appears insurmountable at times, we must maintain that our greatest asset is the determination and commitment of our people to surmount all difficulties and take our nation onward.
Ladies and gentlemen, if we are to maintain the social and economic growth of this province and of the entire country, we all have an integral part to play in the process.
Without any doubt, the present administration under the leadership of the African National Congress is correct when it emphatically states that government has an over-riding obligation to put everything in place to deliver long lasting and real change to the majority of our people as outlined in our electoral mandate.
This is a fundamental part of the common intention aimed at ensuring that we are all an integral part of the nation building process.
In conclusion, let me reiterate that our government recognises that young people represent an asset upon which the future of our nation depends. Without any doubt, our young people are the building blocks for the future development of our country.
We must continue to target our youth in all quarters as we endeavour to change the face of our nation for today's generation and generations to come. Our hope in the successes of this project and many other government initiatives is not unfounded when we consider our government's investment in the development of our communities.
I wish you the best in your endeavours and pledge both my personal and the Department of Social Development's support for this project in the service of vulnerable communities in our country.
Ke a leboga.
Issued by: Department of Social Development
24 May 2010
Source: Department of Social Development (http://www.dsd.gov.za/)
