Address by the Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka on the occasion of the Youth Parliament

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