occasion of the Youth Parliament
21 June 2007
Madam Deputy Speaker, Honourable Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde
Esteemed Members of Parliament
Fellow South Africans
We are meeting this morning, on 21 June, five days after celebrating the
31st Anniversary of the June 16 uprisings. Before I go further with this input,
allow me fellow country men and women to pause and remind ourselves of what we
said in our Budget Vote and to recapture the critical issues raised by the
President when addressing the June 16 event in East London last Saturday.
Addressing this on the 12th of June the President remarked: "�we will
commemorate Youth Day and once more reflect on the challenges facing our youth
today. This occasion will assume particular significance because three months
from today will be the 30th anniversary of the death of one of South Africa's
young heroes who at the age of 30 years was callously killed by the apartheid
security police, thus denying our country the possibility further to benefit
from the enormous talent which Steve Bantu Biko demonstrated during the short
years of his life."
This reflection is important for us today because 30 years ago, Bantu Biko
would not have graced this occasion as you do. Thirty years ago, Biko would
have featured in this Chamber in the list of terrorists that had to be
'neutralised' as we later learned from his would be assailants. Today, this
House talks about Biko in a free and democratic society that he died for. Today
we celebrate his life and the lives of many other young martyrs who selflessly
offered their sweat, blood and lives for us to stand in this Parliament and
shout without fear, Amandla! Amandla!
The current state and future of young people in contemporary South Africa is
influenced by two factors; the extent to which apartheid engineered
inequalities persists as well as the speed at which we consolidate the
democratic state. As I will outline below, government is making considerable
progress in strengthening the machinery to advance youth empowerment though a
post-apartheid lens to the challenges facing young people remains relevant.
A rapid scan of the situation of youth in 2007 reveals that:
* Young people constitute 41% of the South African population.
* Almost 100% of school going age children and youth go to school.
* School dropout rate between grades 1 and 12 is estimated to be as high as
50%.
* The unemployment incidence in this population group is estimated to be as
high as 42%.
* Young people in Limpopo (49%), North West (40%), the Eastern Cape (42%) and
Free State (38%) are more likely to be unemployed compared to those in Gauteng
(31%) and the Western Cape (22%).
* Gauteng seems to be the most attractive province for the youth, followed by
KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape hence the rapid increases of youth
populations in these provinces driven by in-migration.
* More than 53% of the employed youth work in the wholesale / retail, community
/ social and manufacturing industries.
* Graduate unemployment is three percent compared to 40% for matriculants and
60% for non-matriculants.
* The occurrence of urban youth unemployment precipitated by migration is
rising.
* We have 40 000 students in the modern and improved Further Education and
Training (FET) colleges.
This picture deserves mixed reactions. The FET Sector is one of the most
important developments in the education sector. The FET colleges are a direct
response to the demands and needs of our economy. Government and Industry
decided together on the 16 trades that FETs offer. Government says every
occupation, industry or sector is available to every South African. This
government says every tertiary institution in this country is open for business
for all the masses of youth, and we make this possible by offering financial
assistance. Apartheid denied quality vocational education to the young people
in 1985. Our FETs are changing that. In 2007 we say youth must choose FET
colleges because not only have we transformed the curriculum, we have also made
bursaries available for the first time.
Apartheid condemned the young man into forced military service to defend
racial segregation and the apartheid state. In 2007 we say every young South
African must stand up and be countered as a volunteer in the National Youth
Service Programme in service of communities they live in. This national youth
service, honourable members, has been identified by this democratic government
as a catalyst for change, an initiative that seeks to transform the lives of
youth by offering them interpersonal and vocational skills whilst they serve
their communities; an initiative that aims to improve the quality of life our
communities through the efforts of youth under the slogan "Proud to Serve!"
This is the spirit of our fallen young heroes who died serving the nation.
Lembede, Biko, Mashinini, Zondo and many others who must inspire you as you sit
here today. You too must be proud to serve.
Another key element of our youth service programme is mentorship for
children and teenagers who need big brothers and sisters to help them make
informed decisions about career and general life choices. In that regard, let
me reiterate what I said to this last week to members of Parliament:
"We also encourage all of you, honourable members and the people in your
communities, to participate in the mentoring initiatives, under the theme
'every child is my child,' where young people and adults, mentor younger people
and children. One such programme is the Big Brother and Big Sister programme
driven by Umsobomvu Youth Fund and the National Youth Commission. We have a big
shortage of adult males as mentors and the young boys have asked us to find
them good male role models. Can all the good men in this house stand up be
counted?"
Today I say can all the young men come forward to become big brothers and
mentor young boys! Our nation and youth has many challenges to overcome. The
President said:
* We are not happy that our young girls are introduced into motherhood
prematurely.
* We are not happy that young men and women are dropping out of school before
they can acquire requisite foundational, academic and vocational skills.
* We are not happy that in the context of a growing economy, the majority of
young people cannot find jobs and earn sustainable livelihoods.
* We remain concerned that higher grade maths and science rates are way below
50%.
* We are not proud that youth participation in electoral processes has not
reached the 100% mark.
* Recidivism in this population group is a course for concern.
* The total entrepreneurship activity in this population growth is too
poor.
* The rate at which alcoholism and drug abuse is increasing among the people
who are the prime of their age is something we are not proud of.
We are proud however that we have identified the challenges facing our young
people. This understanding is helping to increase investments and to strengthen
the quality and size of our government programmes. This consideration is
helping us to engage the private sector and state owned enterprises, as we did
at the inaugural meeting of the Youth Development Forum this Monday, to
identify areas of collaboration so that collectively we can intervene and
decisively transform the lives of young people.
"Another value we must espouse is the love and concern for the youth. One of
the most devastating experiences at the grassroots level today is to see the
youth wasting away because they are unemployed, even after they have completed
secondary and tertiary education. Governments should prioritise the youth and
their health. This should involve investments in technical education, HIV and
AIDS prevention, treatment and care/support programmes� Technical education
would give citizens knowledge, skills and experience, which would make them
competent, confident and competitive.
Such personnel would create opportunities for entrepreneurship and wealth
creation. Without skills, people will always find themselves locked out of
productive, rewarding economic activities that would give them a better share
of their national wealth. They find themselves unemployed or underemployed and
they are certainly underpaid. They may wish to secure a well paid job, but if
they do not have the skills and the tools, nobody will hire them. Consequently
they will not be able to meet their needs for housing, healthcare, nutrition,
and other family and personal needs. They get trapped in a vicious cycle of
poverty and sometimes crime."
Do not give up focus on developing yourself serving your community, and
never be in conflict with the law. Ours is a country of opportunities. As I
said earlier only three percent of the graduates do not have jobs; be in the
97% of young people who are skilled and productive. It is not too late to
learn.
I thank you.
Issued by: The Presidency
21 June 2007
Source: The Presidency (http://www.thepresidency.gov.za)
