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Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa will on Saturday, 20 February 2016 visit Soweto in the City of Johannesburg, to interact with Grade 11 and 12 learners at a Youth Development Expo at the University of Johannesburg Soweto Campus.

Deputy President Ramaphosa is Chair of the Human Resource Development Council of South Africa, under whose auspices a broad range of stakeholders nationally are coordinated in improving the human resource development base and skills of South Africans.

The Youth Development Expo is the latest in a series of outreach events in which national, provincial and local government and private sector partners showcase opportunities available to young people in education, training and entrepreneurship.

The Youth Development Expo in Soweto will also target young people who have dropped out of school or are interested in entrepreneurship.

The expo will empower young people around issues of career choices and access to further education and training. It will also focus on encouraging healthy living lifestyles among young people, particularly in relation to drugs, alcohol, substance abuse, and HIV.

Through initiatives such as this, young people are also presented with an opportunity to be persuaded against giving into peer pressure and say “NO!” to drugs and illegal substances that can lead to promiscuous behaviour and increase the risk of contracting HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.

The Departments of Home Affairs, Labour, Small Business Development, Social Development and the South African National Defence Force, will provide information on career opportunities and initiatives within government.

The Department of Health and SANAC will offer comprehensive health services that include HIV and TB screening.  There will also be screening and testing for high blood pressure and diabetes and young people will be encouraged to continuously check their HIV status and protect themselves.

Deputy President Ramaphosa will be supported by Ministers Susan Shabangu of the Presidency, responsible for Women; Siyabonga Cwele of Telecommunications and Postal Services; Mildred Oliphant of Labour; Lindiwe Zulu of Small Business Development and Deputy Ministers Buti Manamela of the Presidency: Performance Monitoring and Evaluation; Mduduzi Manana of Higher Education and Training; Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu of Social Development, and Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams of Communications.

Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi and City of Johannesburg Executive Mayor Parks Tau will also support Deputy President Ramaphosa at the Youth Expo.

Private sector partners in the Youth Expo include Microsoft, First National Bank, Kellogg's South Africa, Coca-Cola South Africa, Vodacom South Africa, Google, Telkom, and MTN.

Issued by GCIS on behalf of The Presidency