Speech by Honourable, Minister Mzwanele Nyhontso, MP to the 11th Western Cape Narysec Certification Ceremony, Piesang Valley, Plettenberg Bay, Western Cape
Programme Director
Executive Mayor of the Garden Route District Municipality Executive Mayor of the Bitou Local Municipality Representatives of stakeholder institutions here present
Senior Managers of the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development
Parents
Ladies and gentlemen
And most importantly, the NARYSEC graduates who are our special guests today
I greet you all on this very special day.
This is a wonderful day when we mark the graduation of young people from the NARYSEC programme in the Western Cape Province. The development of rural areas and revitalisation of rural towns remains critical to the transformation and development of our country, and no effort should be spared in ensuring that this includes the socio-economic upliftment of our youth.
The main objective of the NARYSEC Programme is to capacitate rural youth so that they can become economically active and contribute towards the development of their communities. The NARYSEC programme is therefore our flagship programme of skills development linked to employment-creation and enterprise development.
Programme Director
The South African youth, particularly those who reside in rural villages, farming communities and small towns are confronted by many challenges, the most serious of which is unemployment. For more than a decade, our country has been grappling with the challenges of slow economic growth and lack of skills, which are particularly pronounced among the youth in rural areas.
According to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey published by Statistics South Africa, in the first quarter of 2025 unemployment in our country among young people aged between 15 to 34 years stood slightly above 50 per cent. This negative trend shows signs of worsening when compared to data on the same cohort of the population that was unemployed in the first quarter of 2015, when youth unemployment stood at 36,9 per cent. Needless to say, this situation has serious implications for the political and social stability of our country.
Progamme Director
The Department of Land Reform and Rural Development is committed to making a meaningful contribution towards addressing the scourge of youth unemployment, through among other initiatives playing a key role in realising the priorities of the Integrated Rural Development Sector Strategy (IRDSS). The IRDSS is led by our Department’s Rural Development Branch, and is a multi-sectoral national strategy that provides a framework for the planning, budgeting, implementation and reporting of rural development interventions, across all three spheres of government. As it is being implemented, the strategy brings on board all stakeholders, including traditional authorities. In this context, our Department implements a range of rural development programmes, which cover production support, income-generation, infrastructure provision, rural industrialisation, entrepreneurial development, and through NARYSEC, youth skills development.
The NARYSEC Policy is aligned to the District Development Model (DDM) which in the Western Cape Provincial Government is called the Joint District and Metro Approach (JDMA). This approach is designed to accelerate, align and integrate service delivery under a single development plan in each district and metropolitan area. These policy instruments serve as enablers for our Department to propel inclusive economic growth, job creation and to ensure meaningful youth participation.
The graduating NARYSEC youth who are with us today were recruited through multi-stakeholder collaborations within the JDMA / DDM framework, from all six municipal districts in the Western Cape, namely: Central Karoo, West Coast, Overberg, Garden Route, Cape Winelands, as well as from poverty challenged parts of the Cape Metropolitan area.
When considering that the role of the private sector remains critical to ensuring a strong national drive towards inclusive growth for our country, the Department has accordingly partnered with different private companies in identifying opportunities and relevant training areas for youth to realise job absorption outcomes. It is in this context that a significant cohort of the youth who are graduating today have been trained in partnership with companies such as Bidvest Protea Coin and Unmanned Airborne Vehicles and Drone Solutions. These collaborative initiatives have resulted in the participating youth gaining access to employment opportunities.
Additionally, through the collaboration with Unmanned Airborne Vehicles and Drone Solutions the NARYSEC programme has for the first time produced and trained qualified drone pilots who are now registered with South African Civil Aviation Authority. It is also important to point out that there are other private companies that have featured mainly as employers and do not necessarily have formal agreements with the Department on NARYSEC, but also do absorb our youth.
Programme Director
It is important to also highlight the fact that the NARYSEC programme is designed to be responsive to the direct needs and to tap into opportunities that are available for improving the living conditions of rural people. Given the fact that the Western Cape Province has a long coast line, it is important to move decisively in finding ways for the youth and communities of this part of this province to benefit from the ocean’s economy. It goes without saying that this imperative also applies to the rest of the coastal regions of our country.
Programme Director
A key aspect of the multi-sectoral stakeholder approach that we are implementing through the NARYSEC programme is what has now become a strong partnership with public TVET Colleges. We are thus also celebrating this partnership today.
A total of 277 Western Cape NARYSEC youth are graduating today, and they have completed training in a combination of artisanal skills and learnership programmes.
The fields of focus in the training that is being provide in collaboration with various TVET colleges include courses in the following areas: Furniture Making; Environmental Practice; Nature Conservation and Resource Guardianship; Fire Fighting; Yacht and Boat Building; Accommodation Services; Pipe Fitting, Diesel Mechanics, Electricty, Boiler Making; Business Administration; IT Systems Development; Electronics (including Robotics and Coding); General Security Practice; Road Construction Works; Agriculture Maintenance Supervisor; Mixed Farming; and Drone Piloting.
We would like to convey a word of special gratitude to the following TVET Colleges, who have played a key role in realising the success of our training programmes, not only in the Western Cape but in other provinces as well:
- Boland TVET College
- False Bay TVET College
- West Coast TVET College
- Northlink TVET College
- Sekhukhune TVET College
- South West Gauteng TVET College
- Northern Cape Urban TVET College
- Tsolo Agriculture and Rural Development Institute (TARDI).
It is also important to mention the immense contribution that the National Skills Fund is making in these collaborative training programmes, and their wider positive societal impacts.
We are very grateful to all organisations that have shown confidence in the work that our Department is doing in the rural youth development space. This means a lot for households that have young people who are out of school and are unemployed. It also means much for the communities and bodes well for promoting stability and safety.
One of our critical service delivery areas focuses on developing the technical capability of the rural youth by supporting them to acquire expert skills. We are therefore pleased to acknowledge that among the Western Cape NARYSEC graduating cohort in today’s ceremenoy there are 18 young people who have become fully-fledged artisans.
Programme Director
It is also important to highlight the contribution that our Department is making towards addressing youth unemployment through the NARYSEC programme. In this regard, about 144 jobs have been created in collaboration with the following institutions: Bidvest Protea Coin (32); UAV Drone Solutions (9); Power Construction (7); South African National Defence Force (6); Level X IT Solutions (5); Overberg District Municipality
(4); South African Police Services (3); and Fire Department of Witzenberg Local Municipality (3). The youth who acquired qualifications in Yacht and Boat Building through the NARYSEC programme in the Western Cape were trained in collaboration with False Bay TVET College.
As we all know, our rural areas do not provide formal employment opportunities for many of the youth. It is therefore in view of this fact that the NARYSEC Programme has a strong focus on enterprise development, to enable the youth to become employers in their own right. In this effort we are ably supported by the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), Small Enterprise Funding and Development Agency (SEFDA) and Wholesale and Retail Sector Education and Training Authority, which provide training in small business operations and management.
To mention buit a few, the business development initiatives that have emerged through these initiatives include Ikamva Lethu Tunnel Farming that has eight (8) permanent staff and hires an additional 24 people seasonally from the Ceres area. Eight (8) participants from the Swellendam area who studied Road Construction Works were supported to register their own enteprises in the Central Supplier Database, while five (5) youths registered their own recycling business in the Leeu Gamka area, supported by the Provincial Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning and the Prince Albert Municipality.
Programme Director
On behalf of the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development, and our government at large, we extend our heartfelt congratulations to all those who are graduating today. Congratulations and well done!
To the NARYSEC graduates we say today marks not just the culmination of your hard work, dedication, and resilience, but it also signals the beginning of a new chapter and opens up space for new opportunities and possibilities. You have shown remarkable energy, creativity, fortitude, and a never-say-die spirit throughout your journey.
As you move forward in your careers, you must embrace lifelong learning, stay true to the correct values, and never shy away from standing up for what is right. Our Department and government will continue to support you through initiatives such as upskilling, entrepreneurship support, and job creation.
Go out there and be the change that you and us want to see, and carry with you the pride of your accomplishments and the courage to dream big. The world needs your ideas, passion, and vision.
Go forth and make our country proud. Thank you, Baie Dankie, Enkosi!!
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