Hon Chairperson, hon members, young people that are still in the gallery ...
... ke a le dumedi?a. Mamohla ke ema ke leboga bomme bao ba ilego ba swara thipa ka bogaleng gomme ba emela rena re le bana ba bannyane ba banenyana ba lwela ditokelo t?a rena re le baswa le ditokelo t?a bomme. [... I greet you all. I would like to express my gratitude to those women who fought fearlessly for our rights as women and the youth.]
Namhlanje ngimi la ngithi komama abafana nomam'uSisulu, siyabonga. Njengomuntu omusha owesifazane ngiyabonga ngalokhu enikwenzile nasilwela futhi nalwela namalungelo ethu. Yingakho namhlanje njengabantu abasha sikwazi ukuma la ePhalamende, ukuba sibe yingxenye y alezi zingxoxo ezibakhona, sikhulume ngezinto ezisithintayo singabantu abasha. (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[Today I'm standing here and saying thank you to women like Mrs Sisulu. As a young woman I thank you for what you have done - you fought for us as well as for our rights. That is why today as young people we are able to stand here in Parliament, and be part of the discussions that are held, and discuss some issues that affect us as the youth.]
Eka siku lera namuntlha ndzi ri eka va rixaka ra Manana Sisulu onge Xikwembu xi nga va na n'wina xi mi katekisa eka mikarhi leyo tika. Eka Manana Sisulu ndzi ri, etlela hi ku rhula. U endlile ntirho wa wena; u hetile. Leswi nga sala hi leswaku hina hi wu teka hi yisa emahlweni. (Translation of Xitsonga paragraph follows.)
[Today I say to the relatives of Mrs Sisulu, may God be with you to bless you in these difficult times. To Mrs Sisulu I say, rest in peace. You have done your job; you have completed it. What is left is for us to continue with it.]
There are many young people, especially young men, who feel that young women have opportunities and are becoming more successful than them. Whether this is true or not, it is not an issue. However, most of us evaluate the situation of young people based on urban areas and the trends in those areas. We forget about young people in rural areas and townships.
The challenge is: What is it that we can do and need to do to assist young people in rural communities and townships, especially young girls? Most of these young girls are forced to find partners who are older than them, which becomes a means of survival. Others get married early before they even want to. Others get pregnant and therefore end up living on social grants as an income.
We have learnt lately that many young women are using abortion as a form of prevention. This means that more young women are at risk of contracting HIV/Aids and other sexually transmitted diseases. These are the challenges that young women are facing today. Thirty-five years on and 17 years into our democratic system of governance, the institutions that continue to endure are our legislatures and the national Parliament. Our struggle to overthrow the racist regime has been about giving a voice to the people and enabling them to make choices about decisions affecting them. Today our Parliament stands as a monument and bears testimony to the claim that the blood of those who have died has indeed nourished the tree of liberation.
Parliament is the expression of the will of the people. Such an expression must be reflected in its practices, systems and processes. It must be an active Parliament that consciously seeks to get the people to exercise their right to participate in the process and to bring about a better life for all.
As it stands, Parliament has two tasks. The first is to entrench the culture of democratic participation, ensuring that its processes make it possible for the people of our country to take part in decision-making processes. This should be so especially among the youth, and young women in particular.
Secondly, while entrenching a culture of democratic participation, Parliament must also ensure that the culture of accountability is institutionalised. Systems to monitor the performance of the state departments must be strengthened.
Yingakho ngithi, mhlonishwa Lebenya-Ntanzi, njengamalungu ePhalamende yithi ekufanele senze ukuba i-NYDA ichaze ukuba yenzani. [That is why I'm saying, hon Lebenya-Ntanzi, it is up to us as Members of Parliament to ensure that the NYDA is accountable.]
It is we, as members of this institution, who should make sure that the National Youth Development Agency, NYDA, is held accountable. No one else can do it. They must give account here. If we feel hopeless and say that the NYDA is unaccountable, as the hon members were saying, then we are rendering ourselves useless to this government and to the country. [Applause.]
You have been elected to have that responsibility. As a Member of Parliament you have been given the responsibility to hold government accountable on behalf of the public. We need to understand that very well.
Therefore Parliament should be the first to know where there are service delivery blockages as far as communities are concerned. We salute the youth of ... [Interjections.]