Date: 10/06/2009

Source: Inkatha Freedom Party

Title: IFP: Lebenya-Ntanzi: Speech by the IFP Member of Parliament in the Youth Month debate in Parliament

Mr Speaker,

I am delighted to rise to the podium today to once again remember and
honour the commitment and example of South Africa?s heroes of June 16,
1976.

16 June 1976 is a day violently imprinted on the South African
collective conscience. Commemorated over 33 years later as Youth Day,
it is the day that honours the deaths of hundreds of Soweto school
youth. On that day the apartheid regime and its police force were
caught off guard when the simmering bubble of anger of school going
youth finally burst, releasing an intensity of emotion.

On that day voices were heard of a generation of inspired youth
resonate through the valleys and hills of South Africa, their vibrant
youth voices cried: "this is our day." On that day, hundreds of youths
lost their lives but it was a day that ultimately changed the future
of our country, forever.

I believe that this is the true living message conveyed to us by the
heroes of June 16, 1976 ? courage and hope. The vibrant youth voices
of 1976 taught us that there is no challenge too big that we cannot
overcome. The chief aspiration at that time was freedom from
oppression but today, despite the fact that we have made great strides
since achieving democracy, unemployment particularly among the youth
remains a major concern.

Mr Speaker,
The reality is that, after 14 years of democracy, we still can't boast
that a better life for all youths have been achieved. In some
instances, we have gone backwards. Food prices are skyrocketing.
Electricity supply is unstable. Fuel costs are exorbitant and rising
fast. Criminality is rampant. Jobs are scarce. For many, houses are
still unaffordable.

Education is not up to scratch. During the apartheid era, school
children were exposed to intimidation and violence by the police.
Today, school children experience intimidation and violence in their
own classrooms from their own teachers and classmates.

Today, many youths still face the same problems as the generation of
1976. And the question is how can we make it better? The answer is to
get involved. The torch has been passed to a new generation of South
Africans and it is now time for us, the young people of this country
to become politically active and rally against the many challenges we
face in all its forms. Our generation must feel the same spirit of
patriotism that drove our peers to become politically active. We must
become vibrant youth voices for change!

Mr Speaker,

The relationship between society and youth is extremely complex.
Nevertheless, it has been possible to describe a clear theme in this
relationship: the tension between, on the one hand, the belief in the
strength, innovative changes and improvements of, and by, the youth
and, on the other hand, the fear of change and arguable increased loss
of norms. This paradox is not particular to South Africa, nor is it to
this generation of young people. It is the paradox that has probably
applied in every age and every culture.

Mr Speaker, youth development remains one of the complex challenges
facing the democractic South Africa. Fifteen years after transition to
democracy, it is young people, who are most severely affected by
negative socio- economic factors such as HIV / Aids, high level of
unemployment, poverty, unplanned pregnancies and lack of participation
in political and economic development processes.

Recently the Presidency launched the National Youth Development
Agency. It is an open secret that this development was among other
things, due to the IFP who has over the decade raised a number of
concerns about the incompetence of the erstwhile National Youth
Commission and Umsobomvu Youth Fund.

Therefore, to the IFP and millions of our citizens, though not
perfect, the launch of the new Agency presents all of us with a rare
window of opportunity to fix what is wrong with our youth sector.

Mr Speaker, never like before, has government and youth formations had
an opportunity to collectively address challenges facing young people
in our country.

As fellow citizens we have an opportunity to start afresh beyond party lines.

The IFP believe that the importance and effectiveness of the Agency
ultimately relies on youth organisations and government departments
and their willingness to enforce youth centred policies and programmes.

The message to the new Agency and its leadership is clear. To those
young people in the rural areas and slums struggling to break the
bonds of mass misery, you should pledge your best efforts to help them
help themselves, not because you seek their votes, but because it is
right.

With courage and confidence you should pursue one goal that of
ensuring that young people in our country participate as equal
citizens in our economic and political processes. That in their
endeavours our youth are only judged by the content of their character
not by the colour of their skin or political affiliation.

This is our hope. This is the faith that young people and citizens
have in the new Agency and its leadership. So they dare not fail.

I thank you.