Programme Director
Vice Chancellor of Sol Plaatje University, Professor Balim
Youth formations
Officials from Government
Our partners in Youth Development
Ladies and Gentlemen

We are gathered here today with one clear mission in mind. And that is to make young people aware of the immense potential they have in bringing about change, growth and development in not only themselves, but working towards a prosperous South Africa.

The energy, skills, and aspirations of young people are invaluable assets that no society can afford to waste. Therefore, youth development remains a key priority for government because young people are disproportionately affected by the challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequality. We are mindful of the fact that the challenges faced by our young people are diverse and that one is only young for a certain period of time, therefore, the needs of young people are urgent and time bound.

Dames en here,
Ons besoek vandag hier is bewys dat waar dit by jeugsake en jeugontwikkeling kom ons as die ANC Regering altyd gestand sal doen aan die beloftes wat ons aan die jong mense van Suid Afrika maak. Ek het aangedring om teenwoordig te wees by hierdie belangrike ontmoeting sodat u verseker kan wees dat die ontwikkeling en bevordering van u belange ons as Regering altyd sal by bly.

Ons is duidelik bewus daarvan dat die jeug van vandag gekonfronteer word met n magdom van uitdagings wat verskillend en kompleks is wat die jeug van gister mee te doen gehad het. Waar die jeug van vroër hulle lewe neergelê het om te verseker dat ons, ek en U, die vryhede en geleenthede geniet wat hulle ontneem het; word ons jongmense van vandag  in die gesig gestaar deur ontwikkelings, sosiale en ekonomiese uitdagings wat ‘n verskillende benadering verg. 

Ladies and gentlemen
The onus however is on you to enter and prepare yourself for a bright future filled with promise and endless possibilities. These sentiments are echoed by our revered former President and Father of the Nation, the Honourable Mr. Nelson Mandela when he said, “To the youth of today, I also have a wish to make: be the scriptwriters of your destiny and feature yourselves as stars that showed the way towards a brighter future.”

As the African National Congress led Government of the Northern Cape, we herewith re affirm our commitment to continuously put in place programmes that prepares young people for that transition from adolescence to adulthood. This is done through a structured, progressive series of activities and experiences which will help you to obtain social, emotional, ethical, physical and cognitive competencies.

The development of young people will therefore be aligned to the Governments’ approach to addressing poverty and underdevelopment, as well as a mechanism for promotion of social adjustment, social cohesion, and economic emancipation attained through comprehensive, integrated, cross-sectoral and sustainable policies and programmes that seek to bring about tangible improvements in the quality of your lives.

Ladies and gentlemen
This is the year of Oliver Reginald Tambo and the African National Congress has dedicated October, the birth month of President Oliver Reginald Tambo, to celebrate a life of one of the greatest amongst that generation of great freedom fighters.

Oliver R Tambo once remarked that, “A nation that does not care for its youth has no future and does not deserve one”.  We know the youth of our country are the most precious resource, without their energy, creativity and youthfulness, there can be no future. Therefore, cognisant of this fact, the development of young people will always remain a key priority of this Administration.

Given this, we will scale up our efforts and programmes aimed at young people. The commitment to youth issues is evident as we move the young men and women of this province forward.
However we are mindful of the fact that we can only do so if we allow our young people space and scope to share their views and opinions in order to guide government and private sector in terms of their developmental needs. In doing so, we will enable our young people to actively participate in their own development.

Therefore, in assessing how far we have come as a country, the National Development Plan through its ‘youth lens,’ highlights the following proposals as necessary to address the current situation of South Africa’s youth:

• Providing nutrition intervention for pregnant women and young children, having universal access to two years of early childhood development, improving the school system, including increasing the number of students achieving above 50% in literacy and mathematics, increasing learner retention rates to 90% and bolstering teacher training.
• Strengthening youth service programmes and introducing new, community-based programmes to offer young people life-skills training, entrepreneurship training and opportunities to participate in community development programmes.
• Strengthening and expanding the number of Further Education and Training (FET) colleges to increase the participation ratio to 25%, increasing the graduation rate of FET colleges to 75%, providing full funding assistance, covering tuition, books, accommodation and a living allowance to students from poor families.
• Developing community safety centres to prevent crime and including youth in these initiatives.
• Having a tax incentive to employers to reduce the initial cost of hiring young labour-market entrants, providing a subsidy to the placement sector to identify, prepare and place matric graduates into work, expanding learnerships and making training vouchers directly available to job-seekers, introducing a formalised graduate recruitment scheme for the public service to attract highly skilled people, and expanding the role of state-owned enterprises in training artisans and technical professionals.
• Capacitate school and community sports and recreation and encourage healthy and active lifestyles.

Guided by the National Development Plan’s Vision 2030 which asserts that South Africa has an urbanising, youthful population presents an opportunity to boost economic growth, increase employment and reduce poverty. The Northern Cape Provincial Administration is committed:

• To provide young people with broader opportunities; and
• Strengthen youth service programmes and introduce new, community-based programmes to offer young people life-skills training, entrepreneurship training and opportunities to participate in community development programmes.

The department will therefore embark on the following commitments:

2017/2018 Youth Development Commitments
 The Department of Social Development will, in the 2017/2018 Financial Year, support and fund 25 Youth Service Centres from across the Province. The Youth Service Centres, together with the Department of Social Development, will deliver the following services to young people:

• Social cohesion programmes
• National Youth Service programmes
• Youth dialogues
• Inter-generational programmes
• Life skills programmes
• Skills development initiatives
• District & Provincial Youth Camps
The Department plans to render these services to 20 000 young people in this financial year.
 The Department of Social Development will also provide Skills Development Training for 340 young people in this Financial Year. The skills development initiatives that will be embarked on will include: Basic Computer Training, Learner’s & Driver’s License, Hard skills, and Financial Training. 
We should also bear in mind that it remains our collective responsibility as government, private sector and civil society to address the challenges facing our young people. For this to happen, we must work together to create community infrastructure that will respond to the developmental challenges of our young people. 
Many of our young people leave the province in search of developmental opportunities. Our role is therefore to ensure that we create space and opportunity for young people to develop their untapped potential and help us achieve radical economic transformation.

We are prioritising youth development and the National Development Plan singles out our youthful population as an opportunity to boost economic growth, increase employment and reduce poverty. Initiatives such as the this Youth Skills Development Programme, which is an artisan and technical training programme, will thus go a long way in addressing the technical skills shortages in the Province and creating an economically active youth. 

We also resolved on the review of all government youth development programmes, their nature and scale in order to identify the gaps and appropriate interventions to address the gaps.

Further to this, we are also in the process of drafting the Northern Cape Integrated Youth Development Strategy.  This will be the very first Youth Development Strategy for the Province aligned to the vision of the National Youth Policy 2020 that seeks to ensure integrated, holistic and sustainable youth development. This plan is conscious of the historical imbalances and current imbalances and current realities and strives to build a non-sexist, non-racist, democratic South Africa in which young people and their organisations not only enjoy and contribute to their full potential in the social, economic and political spheres of life but also recognise and develop their responsibilities to build a better life for all.

Dames en here,
My kernboodskap aan u vandag is om hierdie geleentheid met altwee hande aan te gryp. Aan die einde van die dag sal jou vordering afhang van hoe jy jouself sal motiveer om hierdie program aan te pak. Die pad na ‘n beter lewe verg harde werk. Dit verg dissipline, toewyding en ywer. Dit vereis ook geduld en verantwoordelikheid. Daar is beslis geen ander manier.
U moet ook besef dat u die sleutel hou om ‘n wonderlike toekoms te ontsluit. Ek wil vra dat julle nie julself moet besig hou met doelose dinge wat julle ontneem om te word wat julle bestem is om te wees en dit is die voertuig van vooruitgang. Drank en dwelms is die ewel wat julle weerhou om julle potensiaal te bereik.

Our communities are under siege by ruthless drug dealers but these drug peddlers are supported by mostly young people who not only destroy their chances to a bright and promising future, but in the process destroy those around them. Government alone cannot stop the scourge and devastation drugs cause. It requires of all of us to stand together and put a stop to this. If there is no market for drugs then no one will sell. We should not allow these dealers to prosper by freely conducting their illicit business without fear in our communities.
My appeal is that we should stay away from that which we know is harmful and to become ambassadors of goodwill in our communities. Your surroundings should not define you. You are better than this and this is the struggle we fight together. But in order for you to truly excel you have to believe in yourself. You have to overcome your own self to become the ambassador for goodwill and agents of change and prosperity.
Teenage pregnancies is another cause for concern and here I want to caution our young ladies to first think of your future and that of the children you want to have. Unplanned pregnancies have a detrimental effect on the future of young ladies. Be wise. Wait for the time when you can afford to raise a child. A child should be born out of love and not by mistake. Be able to raise and take care of a child and not be reliant on government to raise your child for you. Think twice please. Be careful and always be mindful that an unplanned pregnancy can hamper your goals.

I want to reiterate what I said earlier and that is that his ANC led government remains committed to the youth of the country. The future is yours. You are the leaders of tomorrow. The challenge is drawn- it is for you to step to the plate and claim it. Make it yours and lead us to greater heights. Let the blood, sweat and tears of your fathers and their fathers not be in vain. Make them proud and make South Africa proud. Take your rightful place in society and become the great generation you are destined to be.

I thank you