Keynote address by the Deputy Minister in The Presidency, Mr Buti Manamela, at the Auditor General National Audit Awards, Velmore Hotel, Pretoria
Programme Director,
Ministers and Deputy Ministers,
Officials from the various government departments,
Ladies and gentlemen.
I am pleased that I can be here this morning especially since my own department, the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) and the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) receive awards for a clean audit opinion. We applaud and celebrate this achievement.
For the DPME, this is the fourth year in a row that the department has achieved a clean audit.
As the department charged with the responsibility for monitoring government performance, it is important for this department to lead by example. As the custodians of the National Development Plan 2030, the DPME cannot call for a capable and developmental state if we are not prepared to demonstrate this.
This is also the second time that the NYDA receives a clean audit. At last year’s Stakeholder Function I joked that if the NYDA could get a clean audit then any public institution could certainly do so. I said this because of the poor reputation that the NYDA had developed over the years with regards to the management of public funds. Today as we witness the NYDA receiving a clean audit award for the second time in a row, we know that this was no fluke. The NYDA has indeed turned around.
It is important for us to reflect on this journey towards a clean audit because we need to identify and amplify good practices across the public sector. We need to challenge departments and entities to model these good practices. Public funds must be spent prudently and must be properly accounted for in terms of our legislation and regulations.
Strong leadership and management is central to driving a culture of compliance and respect for legislation and regulations. Good financial management almost always results in more resources for service delivery.
And this is what it is all about. Sturdy oversight, good corporate governance, and sound financial management are not ends in itself. It must result in better service delivery for our people. It must result in public funds being put to its best use for meeting the needs of our people and for the responsibilities of the state. Clean audits inspire public confidence. It changes people’s perceptions about public institutions.
I have been asked to make some remarks about youth employment and job creation. As stakeholders in the public sector, I don’t have to remind you that youth unemployment has remained persistently higher than the adult unemployment rate. We need innovative policy and legislative tools coupled with creative programmes that will enable the country to reap the dividends of being a youthful country. According to our unemployment statistics, youth unemployment is at 36.1%. It impacts more negatively on black youth than it does on their white counterparts who have similar skills levels and experience.
Creating employment is at the centre of a more equal, just, stable and socially cohesive society. South African researchers have argued that wage income is the main contributor to the high income inequality. Income from work accounts for 79% of total income inequality.
This is because those that have skills can charge a skills premium and those without skills are competing for limited employment opportunities as the country is moving into the knowledge and service economy. Thus they remain unemployed and receive little to zero income.
An unequal society creates instability leading to all types of social problems. Having a job empowers, creates hope, a sense of belonging and self –realisation. These are all important ingredients for a peaceful and prosperous society. South Africa must also ensure that the dignity of work and workers are guarded by ensuring that labour market standards are upheld and that decent jobs are created. And in doing this the country has to ensure that an enabling environment for investment, both at foreign and local levels, is created.
Government has developed the National Youth Policy 2020 as its seminal platform to drive its youth development response with youth employment being a priority. We have grounded our programme of enhancing economic participation and transformation through the National Youth Policy (NYP) 2020.
The NYP 2020 recognises entrepreneurship as a key mechanism to lift youth out of poverty; to assist youth to participate in the formal economy; to stimulate the creation of jobs and to grow our economy. Through the NYP 2020 we are driving a mass youth entrepreneurship programme encouraging youth to become entrepreneurs.
We are creating a value chain of entrepreneurship across the spectrum from start up to black industrialist. We need radical economic empowerment for young women and men.
Radical economic empowerment means developing the capabilities of our young people, providing the opportunities and supports that they need, and assisting their entrance into the labour market and formal economy in the quickest possible way.
The National Development Plan 2030 directs that eleven millions jobs must be created mainly through the creation of small businesses. Hence the roles of young entrepreneurs are critical for small business growth and job creation. Government must create an enabling environment and provide the right incentives and support to enable the young entrepreneur to get on with the job.
To this end, the NYDA has worked with the Mara Foundation to develop and popularise the use of the Mara Mentor app. The app is a platform that enables ambitious youth entrepreneurs to connect with peers, managers and business leaders. In addition, the platform empowers entrepreneurs to build their businesses into agents of job creation and economic advancement.
It facilitates a collaborative approach to business start-up and growth. Middle and senior managers within the public sector has signed up to be mentors to young entrepreneurs. Mentors are encouraged to share general business and management tips and resources, get involved in discussions and offer one-on-one advice to those that need it. Whether they log in every day or dedicate an afternoon once a month, mentors will be inspired by the great resolve of South Africa’s youth. I encourage you to sign up today. We need all the resources we can muster for the war against youth unemployment.
Through the NYP 2020, we are improving public employment schemes such as the EPWP, Youth Brigades and the Community Works Programmes. These programmes are providing an important social safety net for young people whilst improving their employability, skills development and getting them on the first rung of the empowerment ladder.
Through the NYP 2020 we are scaling up public internships with the creation of 60, 000 internship opportunities. We are making the public service something to aspire to by attracting the best and brightest. Public service must become a career of choice and not something to do as a last resort.
The NYP 2020 emphasises increasing youth absorption into employment, measures to support work exposure for youth, support and development of youth enterprises and cooperatives, redress and ensure the rollout out of Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) for young people as well as rural development and land reform for young people.
As government we have over the past few years implemented an array of programmes and interventions to support the implementation of the NYP and to tackle youth unemployment.
From internships in the public sector to grants to stimulate youth entrepreneurship to financing for youth owned enterprises through to public employment programmes that target youth. But clearly more needs to be done. We have diagnosed the problem, and while more targeted research may help, we need action more than anything else.
We need acceleration of initiatives. It cannot be business as usual. We need inclusive initiatives. It is easy to cream of the top and show impact when we are targeting easy to reach youth. But what about the most vulnerable. Those that have various layers of marginalisation. Who will act for and with them?
As we address youth unemployment, we issue the same call for government, business, civil society and individuals to play your part. Government is ready to partner. We need communities, unions, business and government working collectively to get young people into economic opportunities.
As we celebrate our clean audit achievements today, and we must celebrate this achievement. But we must also remember that clean audits must translate into better, faster, more impactful service delivery. Our people demand better, faster, impactful services. Clean audits are not the language of our masses.
But in managing public finances prudently and ensuring value for money, we release more financial resources to spend on public goods and services – the stuff that our people want. So in the end, clean audits have a direct bearing on service delivery and our ability to address society’s major problems such as youth unemployment.
I thank you!
