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The Western Cape Minister of Social Development, Albert Fritz, launched the provinces fourth Youth Café in Oudtshoorn today.

The Oudtshoorn Youth Café is an initiative borne out of the provincial Youth Development Strategy, and the Western Cape Governments new Provincial Strategic Goals, specifically Strategic Goal 2- which calls for improving education outcomes and opportunities for youth development.

The Oudtshoorn Youth Café is a partnership of the Department of Social Development (DSD), our NGO partner the Southern Youth Film Festival (SUFF) Academy, and both the Oudtshoorn and Eden District Municipalities. It is a space which puts youth on a path to be pioneers in creating opportunities not only for themselves, but for others too.

The Oudtshoorn Youth Café will offer entrepreneurial, leadership and other skills training courses. High-speed internet access is available for job seekers or entrepreneurs to use in search for further opportunities. This space will play the pivotal role of providing a socially inclusive and enabling environment for youth in Oudtshoorn and the region at large.

Like the Youth Cafés in Mitchells Plain, Athlone and George, youth must firstly register to gain access to things like the internet, the coffee station, training courses, seminars, etc.

This Café will allow young people in Oudtshoorn and the region access to a developmental space that is limited only by their creativity. In this financial year, our Department has invested heavily in our initiatives for youth to the value of just over R12.7 million. This will see us roll out another Youth Café in Nyanga Junction, areas which have historically seen young people underserviced.

Our programmes as DSD are in addition to our other youth empowerment initiatives as government, such as the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) Programme, the Premiers PAY Project, Chrysalis Youth Academy, and our internship and bursaries programmes.

We will continue expanding opportunity for young people, by building partnerships with NGOs and the private sector. The empowerment of youth can best be achieved, ‘Better Together’.

Issued by Western Cape Community Safety