Date: 16/06/2005
Source:North West Provincial Government
TItle: Molewa: Youth Day celebrations
Address by North West Premier Edna Molewa at the Youth Day celebrations, Ganyesa Sports ground, Vryburg
Programme Director
Chairperson of the North West Provincial Youth
Commission, Cde Kabelo Mataboge
Deputy Chairperson, Ms Connie Modiba
Youth Commissioners and All Members of our Youth Commission
Young People of the North West Province
I thank you sincerely for granting me the opportunity to address you on this symbolic and most important Youth Day of our calendar: 16 June.
I hope that my attendance and address here today confirm what I have been telling the staff and management in my Office, that I am still a young girl of 16 years and therefore still hold dear all the concerns, challenges, pleasures and the sheer energy of being a youth.
On a more serious note, 16 June 2005 comes a year short of the 30th anniversary of 16 June 1976, a day that will remain indelible in our collective memory as thousands of young people took to the streets of Soweto in peaceful protest against the imposition of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction in black schools and against the aggressive drive of the apartheid regime to subjugate the majority of black citizens to its racially-based policy of Bantu education.
I do not want to recount here what happened on that dark gloomy day in Soweto and elsewhere subsequently, except that it marked a turning point in the history of South Africa and gave new meaning and impetus to a relentless struggle for liberation waged by the young people of our country in all corners of the world.
It is through the efforts and sacrifices of the youth of 76 that we enjoy the democracy and freedoms that define our country today. It is because of the events of 16 June that many people still think of youth activism as essentially angry mobs taking to the streets with placards, burning barricades, throwing stones at police officers and generally causing mayhem.
That may well have been a defining characteristic of youth activism of 76 precisely because the prevailing political situation left the youth with no other choice. But equally, the calibre of a youth filled with idealism and a determination to change their conditions was born on that day and has stayed with us up to this day.
Today may be a completely different 16 June with a different set of challenges, but it still requires the same idealism, determination and a singular purpose of mind for today’s youth to tackle the many impediments to their full development. We are therefore honoured to join the youth of North West as Government to celebrate this day with you.
We are similarly challenged, on this day, to assess realistically and honestly what this province has done for youth development and what still needs to be done. We believe that an important yardstick to measure society’s respect for human rights, its maturity and meaningful progress towards a better life for all is through examining the interventions that society puts to improve the quality of life of its young citizens.
I am therefore heartened by the theme of this year’s youth programme that rightly prioritises the critical tasks of creating youth employment and fighting poverty, as these are perhaps the singular most pressing challenges our interventions as Government will have to address.
Our scope of intervention is determined by the National Youth Policy Development Framework, the blueprint that governs youth development programmes nationally as well as in the Provincial Youth Commissions. The North West Provincial Youth Commission (NWPYC) was established in 1995 and adopted this Policy Framework in 1997. It has worked tirelessly since to influence government policy to improve the conditions of young people in the province.
Located in the Office of the Premier, the NWPYC is itself proof of our government’s unswerving commitment to the betterment of life for the youth of the province. The success of the NWPYC is our success and similarly, their failure is our failure.
One of the first important exercises that NWPYC engaged in as soon as it was established was to conduct a Youth Profile of the province, as such data is crucial in shaping the nature and extent of our Youth Development programmes.
Statistics show for instance that of the total 3 669 349 population of North West in 2002, 1 462 014 were young people between the ages of 14 and 35. Naturally, because our province is mostly rural, the majority of these young people live in rural areas and a large concentration of the youth is in Bojanala District, followed by Central then Southern, with Bophirima and Kgalagadi as the least youth populated districts.
I mention all this, young people, to make the point that our intervention as Government has been guided by this crucial data. I do not wish to bore you with more statistics and figures on this revolutionary day, except to say that perhaps the greatest intervention that the NWPYC together with government have done is in the primary arena of influencing policy. Today, no government department can plan and implement programmes without due input and influential direction from the youth.
A number of programmes have thus been developed and implemented by government departments in response to our youth policy framework.
Among the many areas where young people of the province have been active are with the Health Department on providing home-based care for people living with HIV and AIDS; with Social Development for registration of social grants, identity documents and other important national documents; with the North West Legislature for the now annual Youth Parliament and the consideration of the report on youth by provincial law-makers; the Premiership Awards with the Office of the Premier to recognise excellence, sacrifices and efforts by young people to change the lives of ordinary people and their fellows.
There has honestly been some difficulty getting all provincial departments to make youth initiatives an integral part of their Strategic Plans. But we have since established, together with the NWPYC, an Inter-Departmental Committee on Youth Affairs to bring all departments to centralised planning and implementation on youth-orientated initiatives.
A similar structure now exists at local government level, bringing all municipalities of the province on board. Accordingly, we will be monitoring closely the work of these structures to ensure that no single tier of government escapes the critical task of youth development in their plans and programmes.
In the meantime, we have intensified our Skills Development strategy by putting young people in learnerships, aimed at equipping them with the necessary skills demanded by the market and our economy, while gaining useful experience from the departments they are placed in. One thousand young people are currently on our Learnership Programme in the provincial departments, gaining practical experience in a wide range of fields of competence.
Our NWPYC is also in the process of implementing the National Youth Service Programme, a Presidential Project undertaken by all nine provinces. Numerous projects are also underway, including the Lichtenburg Farm Project and the Youth Policy and Research Centre project, which will go a long way towards aligning youth development with the economic priorities of the Province: agriculture, mining, manufacturing and tourism.
In this age of entrepreneurship and competing global economies, we encourage the youth not to over-rely on employment but create opportunities for themselves to be employers. It is important that we cultivate a culture of entrepreneurship so that the youth benefit directly from the economic opportunities created by the markets as well as our economic structure and that of the world.
Chairperson,
I need to also mention that Umsobomvu Youth Fund was mandated specifically to respond directly to the economic participation challenges facing the youth. To this end and among other things, Umsobomvu has undertaken to revive the Junior Achievement South Africa Youth Advisory Centre in Potchefstroom, to roll out an economic literacy project to about more than 3 000 young people a year.
Other Umsobomvu projects already launched and operational in the province include the Joint Enrichment Youth Service in Atamelang and Mothibistad; Chemical Boiler Making Learnership in Bojanala and a Youth Cooperative Pilot Project, while a Business Development Services Voucher Programme (BDSVP) allocating agency will be launched soon in the manufacturing sector in the province.
Yet despite all these efforts and progress reported, our youth still constitute the majority of the unemployed population. Hence our Department of Finance and Economic Development has been on a month-long road show encouraging and promoting youth participation in small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs); the Premier’s Office has pledged its overarching message of solidarity with the unemployed youth and has undertaken to ensure that Government Departments as well as local government structures incorporate youth development into all their programmes. We will be monitoring this with a keen interest, ensuring that the welfare and development of our young people are forever uppermost in all government programmes.
Chairperson
We are also aware that, halfway through the Youth Development Month, the NWPYC has embarked vigorously on activities to improve the lot of their fellow young compatriots, including the campaign against child labour, the Youth Economic Participation Fair, as well as the submissions they made to our Legislature.
We have also seen you Draft North West Integrated Youth Development Strategy 2005 - 2009 and are impressed by attention to detail, we support all these efforts and believe only through a concerted architecture of integrated planning and coordination in all our departments, in line with our youth development objectives, will we sooner realise our common dream of creating youth employment and fight poverty. Nevertheless, we are on the right track.
However, one of the real challenges we face in the work of youth development is that our results are not immediately tangible and available to our communities. So it is that 10 years since NWPYC was launched, we still have to answer questions like what have we done for the youth.
Chairperson, commissioners, youth leaders and activists, do not be dismayed by this question. But answer it with the honesty and humility it deserves. Let our communities know that the ultimate test of success for the work we do today will show itself in the economic, political and social leadership of tomorrow. Let the world know that it would truly be a measure of attribute to the youth of today, when tomorrow South Africa truly belongs to all who live in it. It would be because of the young lions of today when our province and our country enjoy the prosperity, a better life and all the opportunities on offer that our efforts at youth development would fully be appreciated. But youth development is path we will never abandon because we inherited the idealism, determination and resilience that defined our brothers and sisters since 16 June 1976.
I wish you a memorable Youth Day.
Forward with Youth Development!
Long Live the Spirit of June 16!
Roar Young Lions Roar!
I thank you.
Issued by: Office of the Premier, North West Provincial Government
16 June 2005
Source:North West Provincial Government
TItle: Molewa: Youth Day celebrations
Address by North West Premier Edna Molewa at the Youth Day celebrations, Ganyesa Sports ground, Vryburg
Programme Director
Chairperson of the North West Provincial Youth
Commission, Cde Kabelo Mataboge
Deputy Chairperson, Ms Connie Modiba
Youth Commissioners and All Members of our Youth Commission
Young People of the North West Province
I thank you sincerely for granting me the opportunity to address you on this symbolic and most important Youth Day of our calendar: 16 June.
I hope that my attendance and address here today confirm what I have been telling the staff and management in my Office, that I am still a young girl of 16 years and therefore still hold dear all the concerns, challenges, pleasures and the sheer energy of being a youth.
On a more serious note, 16 June 2005 comes a year short of the 30th anniversary of 16 June 1976, a day that will remain indelible in our collective memory as thousands of young people took to the streets of Soweto in peaceful protest against the imposition of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction in black schools and against the aggressive drive of the apartheid regime to subjugate the majority of black citizens to its racially-based policy of Bantu education.
I do not want to recount here what happened on that dark gloomy day in Soweto and elsewhere subsequently, except that it marked a turning point in the history of South Africa and gave new meaning and impetus to a relentless struggle for liberation waged by the young people of our country in all corners of the world.
It is through the efforts and sacrifices of the youth of 76 that we enjoy the democracy and freedoms that define our country today. It is because of the events of 16 June that many people still think of youth activism as essentially angry mobs taking to the streets with placards, burning barricades, throwing stones at police officers and generally causing mayhem.
That may well have been a defining characteristic of youth activism of 76 precisely because the prevailing political situation left the youth with no other choice. But equally, the calibre of a youth filled with idealism and a determination to change their conditions was born on that day and has stayed with us up to this day.
Today may be a completely different 16 June with a different set of challenges, but it still requires the same idealism, determination and a singular purpose of mind for today’s youth to tackle the many impediments to their full development. We are therefore honoured to join the youth of North West as Government to celebrate this day with you.
We are similarly challenged, on this day, to assess realistically and honestly what this province has done for youth development and what still needs to be done. We believe that an important yardstick to measure society’s respect for human rights, its maturity and meaningful progress towards a better life for all is through examining the interventions that society puts to improve the quality of life of its young citizens.
I am therefore heartened by the theme of this year’s youth programme that rightly prioritises the critical tasks of creating youth employment and fighting poverty, as these are perhaps the singular most pressing challenges our interventions as Government will have to address.
Our scope of intervention is determined by the National Youth Policy Development Framework, the blueprint that governs youth development programmes nationally as well as in the Provincial Youth Commissions. The North West Provincial Youth Commission (NWPYC) was established in 1995 and adopted this Policy Framework in 1997. It has worked tirelessly since to influence government policy to improve the conditions of young people in the province.
Located in the Office of the Premier, the NWPYC is itself proof of our government’s unswerving commitment to the betterment of life for the youth of the province. The success of the NWPYC is our success and similarly, their failure is our failure.
One of the first important exercises that NWPYC engaged in as soon as it was established was to conduct a Youth Profile of the province, as such data is crucial in shaping the nature and extent of our Youth Development programmes.
Statistics show for instance that of the total 3 669 349 population of North West in 2002, 1 462 014 were young people between the ages of 14 and 35. Naturally, because our province is mostly rural, the majority of these young people live in rural areas and a large concentration of the youth is in Bojanala District, followed by Central then Southern, with Bophirima and Kgalagadi as the least youth populated districts.
I mention all this, young people, to make the point that our intervention as Government has been guided by this crucial data. I do not wish to bore you with more statistics and figures on this revolutionary day, except to say that perhaps the greatest intervention that the NWPYC together with government have done is in the primary arena of influencing policy. Today, no government department can plan and implement programmes without due input and influential direction from the youth.
A number of programmes have thus been developed and implemented by government departments in response to our youth policy framework.
Among the many areas where young people of the province have been active are with the Health Department on providing home-based care for people living with HIV and AIDS; with Social Development for registration of social grants, identity documents and other important national documents; with the North West Legislature for the now annual Youth Parliament and the consideration of the report on youth by provincial law-makers; the Premiership Awards with the Office of the Premier to recognise excellence, sacrifices and efforts by young people to change the lives of ordinary people and their fellows.
There has honestly been some difficulty getting all provincial departments to make youth initiatives an integral part of their Strategic Plans. But we have since established, together with the NWPYC, an Inter-Departmental Committee on Youth Affairs to bring all departments to centralised planning and implementation on youth-orientated initiatives.
A similar structure now exists at local government level, bringing all municipalities of the province on board. Accordingly, we will be monitoring closely the work of these structures to ensure that no single tier of government escapes the critical task of youth development in their plans and programmes.
In the meantime, we have intensified our Skills Development strategy by putting young people in learnerships, aimed at equipping them with the necessary skills demanded by the market and our economy, while gaining useful experience from the departments they are placed in. One thousand young people are currently on our Learnership Programme in the provincial departments, gaining practical experience in a wide range of fields of competence.
Our NWPYC is also in the process of implementing the National Youth Service Programme, a Presidential Project undertaken by all nine provinces. Numerous projects are also underway, including the Lichtenburg Farm Project and the Youth Policy and Research Centre project, which will go a long way towards aligning youth development with the economic priorities of the Province: agriculture, mining, manufacturing and tourism.
In this age of entrepreneurship and competing global economies, we encourage the youth not to over-rely on employment but create opportunities for themselves to be employers. It is important that we cultivate a culture of entrepreneurship so that the youth benefit directly from the economic opportunities created by the markets as well as our economic structure and that of the world.
Chairperson,
I need to also mention that Umsobomvu Youth Fund was mandated specifically to respond directly to the economic participation challenges facing the youth. To this end and among other things, Umsobomvu has undertaken to revive the Junior Achievement South Africa Youth Advisory Centre in Potchefstroom, to roll out an economic literacy project to about more than 3 000 young people a year.
Other Umsobomvu projects already launched and operational in the province include the Joint Enrichment Youth Service in Atamelang and Mothibistad; Chemical Boiler Making Learnership in Bojanala and a Youth Cooperative Pilot Project, while a Business Development Services Voucher Programme (BDSVP) allocating agency will be launched soon in the manufacturing sector in the province.
Yet despite all these efforts and progress reported, our youth still constitute the majority of the unemployed population. Hence our Department of Finance and Economic Development has been on a month-long road show encouraging and promoting youth participation in small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs); the Premier’s Office has pledged its overarching message of solidarity with the unemployed youth and has undertaken to ensure that Government Departments as well as local government structures incorporate youth development into all their programmes. We will be monitoring this with a keen interest, ensuring that the welfare and development of our young people are forever uppermost in all government programmes.
Chairperson
We are also aware that, halfway through the Youth Development Month, the NWPYC has embarked vigorously on activities to improve the lot of their fellow young compatriots, including the campaign against child labour, the Youth Economic Participation Fair, as well as the submissions they made to our Legislature.
We have also seen you Draft North West Integrated Youth Development Strategy 2005 - 2009 and are impressed by attention to detail, we support all these efforts and believe only through a concerted architecture of integrated planning and coordination in all our departments, in line with our youth development objectives, will we sooner realise our common dream of creating youth employment and fight poverty. Nevertheless, we are on the right track.
However, one of the real challenges we face in the work of youth development is that our results are not immediately tangible and available to our communities. So it is that 10 years since NWPYC was launched, we still have to answer questions like what have we done for the youth.
Chairperson, commissioners, youth leaders and activists, do not be dismayed by this question. But answer it with the honesty and humility it deserves. Let our communities know that the ultimate test of success for the work we do today will show itself in the economic, political and social leadership of tomorrow. Let the world know that it would truly be a measure of attribute to the youth of today, when tomorrow South Africa truly belongs to all who live in it. It would be because of the young lions of today when our province and our country enjoy the prosperity, a better life and all the opportunities on offer that our efforts at youth development would fully be appreciated. But youth development is path we will never abandon because we inherited the idealism, determination and resilience that defined our brothers and sisters since 16 June 1976.
I wish you a memorable Youth Day.
Forward with Youth Development!
Long Live the Spirit of June 16!
Roar Young Lions Roar!
I thank you.
Issued by: Office of the Premier, North West Provincial Government
16 June 2005
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