YOUTH COMMISSION CALLS ON YOUTH ORGANISATIONS

Issued by: Government Communications (GCIS)

The National Youth Commission condemns the bombing of Planet Hollwood in Cape Town last night. We are outraged that a popular gathering place for young people has been targeted by terrorist thugs for reasons yet to be established.

It is well known that Planet Hollywood attracts a sizeable number of young adults as patrons and we are disturbed that their lives and those of other South African citizens were deemed by the perpetrators to be expendable. Whatever the motive may turn out to be, this was unmistakeably an attack on South Africa and South Africans inasmuch as it may have been intended to symbolise something else.

We call on all young people in whichever organisations and communities they may find themselves to close ranks in firm opposition to this kind of urban terrorism. Our country has worked hard to establish a society in which there is no reason for any lives - particularly young lives - to be sacrificed when avenues exist to accommodate and hear any and all grievances through an open, democratic process.

At a time when the South African government has - with regard to the crisis in Congo - demonstrated commendable restraint by resisting the deployment of young people in our military in favour of pursuing a political solution. It is unacceptable that cowardly, anonymous persons can unilaterally decide to target and kill innecent, ordinary citizens who have no relationship to whatever their grievances may be.

• The National Youth Commission has also come out in strong support of the South African government's peace initlatives in the Congo region. Following a full sitting of the Commission at its quarterly Constitutional meeting, the NYC issued a statement commending the restraint and caution the Government had demonstrated with regard to the quickly millitarising situation in the Congo. "The NYC supports the government's efforts to find a political solution to the conflict in Congo, which is the only basis for a lasting settlement," said NYC Chair, Mahlengi Bhengu. "We should guard against putting the lives of young South Africans in the millitary at risk, when it is not yet clearly established that their deployment would facilitate a lasting peace and would therefore be in the interests of South Africa and the region. We are of the unanimous opinion that government has chosen the appropriate path from the point of view of the interests of South Africa, the region and the young people who will have to bear arms on our behalf should that situation arise.

For further information or comment please call NYC Acting CEO Paul Johnson on Cell/Voicemail 082 771 8465