Date: 18/11/2005
Source: North West Provincial Government
Title: Molewa: Premier’s Youth Awards
Keynote address by North West Premier, Edna Molewa, at the Premier’s Youth Awards, Potchefstroom
Programme Director,
MECs present here today,
Departmental HODs present,
Chairperson of the North West Provincial Youth Commission, Mr Kabelo Mataboge,
Chairperson of the National Youth Commission,
Mr Jabu Mbalula,
National and Provincial Commissioners present,
Our Awards Recipients and Nominees,
Our Distinguished Guests and Sponsors,
Young People of the North West Province
It is an incredible honour and fulfilling experience for us to stand here and pay tribute to the youth of our province for their exceptional achievements in various areas as part of our Premier Youth Awards. For the past years these awards have grown in stature through, among others, attracting various partners from the private sector who have contributed by sponsoring some of the categories.
As you would have seen on the video footage shown earlier on, the awards are far from being just a ceremonial event, but continue to contribute meaningfully to the broader development of young people in the province.
We are proud, for instance, that one of the 2002 Premier Awards recipients, the News Independent newspaper, has just celebrated three years of productive existence. For us, this demonstrates the sustainability and economic viability that the awards continue to foster.
In honouring the young men and women tonight, we are affirming our commitment to nurturing youth talent in all fields of expertise, while at the same time making a lifetime investment in the future of both our province and our country.
The theme of this year’s awards then could not have been more apt, “The World is in Your Hands”, which captures our objective of translating into the practical outcomes our efforts in working with the youth now in order to build the future.
So in both word and deed, we commit ourselves to the optimal fulfilment of our youths’ political, social, cultural, economic and educational aspirations and we dare say that the future belongs to them.
We do not share the doomsayers’ belief that our youth are idle and in despair. Nor do we subscribe to the notion that our youth constitute a “lost generation”. The calibre of the youth we honour today alone will dispel that notion and prove to the province and its people that young people are engaged in constructive work to build our province and the country into a vibrant, harmonious and prosperous place of which we will all be proud.
Indeed, these young men and women have inherited a rich legacy of our South African youth who have never wavered in front of the most vexing of challenges.
I am talking here of the youth who waged relentless struggles and epic battles against an oppressive system whose well-documented ruthlessness could not damper their spirit and hunger for freedom.
Then, times demanded of the youth to sacrifice their very essence of being young people, to abandon families and all manner of comfort and dedicate themselves fearlessly and selflessly to a goal of liberation.
Their contribution to the struggle for freedom and democracy was both immense and immeasurable. We therefore owe it to them as young people of today, to carry forward that march to complete economic emancipation and into making a reality a South Africa that belongs to all.
Clearly, the challenges confronting the youth of today are different from those faced by the youth of yesterday. But the youth remains the section of our society that is more acutely affected by today’s challenges. It seems an indisputable fact of life then that the manner in which the youth respond to these challenges, always determines the kind of future society we become.
At a political level, the youth have the historical obligation not only to defend democracy and freedom, but also to deepen and consolidate it and make our country a shining beacon in the world of nations. We expect no less than strong decisive leadership from young people, imbued with foresight and the ability to manage our modern democracy in the best way possible.
At the economic front, times demand that our youth take the driving seat not only in managing the economy, but also in translating our Growth and Development plans, both nationally and provincially, into reality. It is to the youth that we will look for the development of small enterprises. It is to them that we will pin our hopes for successfully merging the First and Second Economies into one vibrant world class economy that benefits all its citizens.
The youth can do this by seizing on all the economic opportunities made possible by both our democracy and the growing economy. But this should not stop the youth from creating opportunities for themselves either.
Yet socially, our youth are faced with perhaps the most daunting of challenges as they battle a myriad of social ills including crime and drug and alcohol abuse, violence and abuse of women and children, as well as teenage pregnancies.
It is also no secret that unemployment and disease, particularly the HIV and AIDS pandemic, affects the youth more than any other section of our population.
Yet despite all these socio-economic challenges our youth have soldiered on, and as if they were inspired by the words of former president Nelson Mandela at the dawn of democracy when he said “our endeavours must be about the liberation of the woman, the emancipation of the man and the liberty of the child”.
Today we recognise and pay tribute to those young men and women who continue to demonstrate the utmost determination towards the liberation of the woman, the emancipation of the man and the liberty of the child.
Today, in the fields of Arts and Culture, Science and Technology, Community and Youth Service, in Sports and Recreation, Entrepreneurship and Excellence in Education, we recognise, reward and encourage contributions made by young people of the North West Province towards the progress of our society so far.
In doing so, we are convinced that our actions will inspire a whole generation of others to emulate those we hail as role models today. We also have no doubt that these awards we proffer today would foster a sense of nation-building and galvanise the youth into armies of reconstruction and development that the nation obliges them to be.
When the battle for freedom and democracy was won in 1994, another new struggle was evident in the horizon, the one we are currently engaged in, which is the struggle to build our province into a non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and a prosperous society in which citizens live in peace with themselves and the world.
The victors and the leaders of that struggle for freedom are the youth of yesterday, while the leaders and torch-bearers of the new struggle for economic growth, development and reconstruction are the young people of today.
We strongly believe in the indispensable role of our youth in building the kind of nation and society that their forebears sacrificed everything, including their lives, for it to be realised. We have utmost confidence that, like the youth of the 1940s and 50s, as well as the resilient youth of 1976, these young people will rise to the occasion and take the nation to the next step of socio-economic progress.
A lot rests on young people’s shoulders, hence we felt the need to recognise those who have met these challenges with vigour and an incredible will to succeed. These are our role models and they are worthy of our highest honour as the North West Province.
Before I conclude, we would like to congratulate the North West Youth Commission for the role they have played in ensuring that young people participate in an open process of public nomination. We would also like to express our gratitude to the Adjudication Panel that presided over a tedious yet meticulous process of selecting the best performers in all the Categories.
Finally then, it is now my greatest privilege to confer these awards, on behalf of the province and the Provincial Government, to these outstanding young men and women for their various outstanding contributions to the growth and development of our province.
May their actions, past and future, inspire other youth to surpass the achievements we recognise today.
I thank you.
Issued by: Office of the Premier, North West Provincial Government
18 November 2005
Source: North West Provincial Government
Title: Molewa: Premier’s Youth Awards
Keynote address by North West Premier, Edna Molewa, at the Premier’s Youth Awards, Potchefstroom
Programme Director,
MECs present here today,
Departmental HODs present,
Chairperson of the North West Provincial Youth Commission, Mr Kabelo Mataboge,
Chairperson of the National Youth Commission,
Mr Jabu Mbalula,
National and Provincial Commissioners present,
Our Awards Recipients and Nominees,
Our Distinguished Guests and Sponsors,
Young People of the North West Province
It is an incredible honour and fulfilling experience for us to stand here and pay tribute to the youth of our province for their exceptional achievements in various areas as part of our Premier Youth Awards. For the past years these awards have grown in stature through, among others, attracting various partners from the private sector who have contributed by sponsoring some of the categories.
As you would have seen on the video footage shown earlier on, the awards are far from being just a ceremonial event, but continue to contribute meaningfully to the broader development of young people in the province.
We are proud, for instance, that one of the 2002 Premier Awards recipients, the News Independent newspaper, has just celebrated three years of productive existence. For us, this demonstrates the sustainability and economic viability that the awards continue to foster.
In honouring the young men and women tonight, we are affirming our commitment to nurturing youth talent in all fields of expertise, while at the same time making a lifetime investment in the future of both our province and our country.
The theme of this year’s awards then could not have been more apt, “The World is in Your Hands”, which captures our objective of translating into the practical outcomes our efforts in working with the youth now in order to build the future.
So in both word and deed, we commit ourselves to the optimal fulfilment of our youths’ political, social, cultural, economic and educational aspirations and we dare say that the future belongs to them.
We do not share the doomsayers’ belief that our youth are idle and in despair. Nor do we subscribe to the notion that our youth constitute a “lost generation”. The calibre of the youth we honour today alone will dispel that notion and prove to the province and its people that young people are engaged in constructive work to build our province and the country into a vibrant, harmonious and prosperous place of which we will all be proud.
Indeed, these young men and women have inherited a rich legacy of our South African youth who have never wavered in front of the most vexing of challenges.
I am talking here of the youth who waged relentless struggles and epic battles against an oppressive system whose well-documented ruthlessness could not damper their spirit and hunger for freedom.
Then, times demanded of the youth to sacrifice their very essence of being young people, to abandon families and all manner of comfort and dedicate themselves fearlessly and selflessly to a goal of liberation.
Their contribution to the struggle for freedom and democracy was both immense and immeasurable. We therefore owe it to them as young people of today, to carry forward that march to complete economic emancipation and into making a reality a South Africa that belongs to all.
Clearly, the challenges confronting the youth of today are different from those faced by the youth of yesterday. But the youth remains the section of our society that is more acutely affected by today’s challenges. It seems an indisputable fact of life then that the manner in which the youth respond to these challenges, always determines the kind of future society we become.
At a political level, the youth have the historical obligation not only to defend democracy and freedom, but also to deepen and consolidate it and make our country a shining beacon in the world of nations. We expect no less than strong decisive leadership from young people, imbued with foresight and the ability to manage our modern democracy in the best way possible.
At the economic front, times demand that our youth take the driving seat not only in managing the economy, but also in translating our Growth and Development plans, both nationally and provincially, into reality. It is to the youth that we will look for the development of small enterprises. It is to them that we will pin our hopes for successfully merging the First and Second Economies into one vibrant world class economy that benefits all its citizens.
The youth can do this by seizing on all the economic opportunities made possible by both our democracy and the growing economy. But this should not stop the youth from creating opportunities for themselves either.
Yet socially, our youth are faced with perhaps the most daunting of challenges as they battle a myriad of social ills including crime and drug and alcohol abuse, violence and abuse of women and children, as well as teenage pregnancies.
It is also no secret that unemployment and disease, particularly the HIV and AIDS pandemic, affects the youth more than any other section of our population.
Yet despite all these socio-economic challenges our youth have soldiered on, and as if they were inspired by the words of former president Nelson Mandela at the dawn of democracy when he said “our endeavours must be about the liberation of the woman, the emancipation of the man and the liberty of the child”.
Today we recognise and pay tribute to those young men and women who continue to demonstrate the utmost determination towards the liberation of the woman, the emancipation of the man and the liberty of the child.
Today, in the fields of Arts and Culture, Science and Technology, Community and Youth Service, in Sports and Recreation, Entrepreneurship and Excellence in Education, we recognise, reward and encourage contributions made by young people of the North West Province towards the progress of our society so far.
In doing so, we are convinced that our actions will inspire a whole generation of others to emulate those we hail as role models today. We also have no doubt that these awards we proffer today would foster a sense of nation-building and galvanise the youth into armies of reconstruction and development that the nation obliges them to be.
When the battle for freedom and democracy was won in 1994, another new struggle was evident in the horizon, the one we are currently engaged in, which is the struggle to build our province into a non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and a prosperous society in which citizens live in peace with themselves and the world.
The victors and the leaders of that struggle for freedom are the youth of yesterday, while the leaders and torch-bearers of the new struggle for economic growth, development and reconstruction are the young people of today.
We strongly believe in the indispensable role of our youth in building the kind of nation and society that their forebears sacrificed everything, including their lives, for it to be realised. We have utmost confidence that, like the youth of the 1940s and 50s, as well as the resilient youth of 1976, these young people will rise to the occasion and take the nation to the next step of socio-economic progress.
A lot rests on young people’s shoulders, hence we felt the need to recognise those who have met these challenges with vigour and an incredible will to succeed. These are our role models and they are worthy of our highest honour as the North West Province.
Before I conclude, we would like to congratulate the North West Youth Commission for the role they have played in ensuring that young people participate in an open process of public nomination. We would also like to express our gratitude to the Adjudication Panel that presided over a tedious yet meticulous process of selecting the best performers in all the Categories.
Finally then, it is now my greatest privilege to confer these awards, on behalf of the province and the Provincial Government, to these outstanding young men and women for their various outstanding contributions to the growth and development of our province.
May their actions, past and future, inspire other youth to surpass the achievements we recognise today.
I thank you.
Issued by: Office of the Premier, North West Provincial Government
18 November 2005
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