Hon Chairperson, it is quite an honour and privilege to speak on this important topic. In nine days time, Africa and the world will be celebrating one of the most historic events in the form of the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup. We never in our wildest dreams thought that it would happen in Africa, and in South Africa.
This means that the 2010 Fifa World Cup is relevant in addressing the needs of the youth. However, let us focus on the reality on the ground. For a nation such as ours that has a rich diversity, the 2010 Fifa World Cup should be used to empower this generation. The youth should have been involved in all phases of the World Cup processes, from the decision- making, infrastructure development, skills development, and, most importantly, employment opportunities.
Let us frankly assess how the 2010 Fifa World Cup should have been used to create opportunities and address the needs of young people. Firstly, with regard to unemployment the shocking statistics reveal that South African youth contribute to 72% of unemployed people in this country. About 3,1 million youth are unemployed, 35% of the South African population is the youth and this translates to about 16,3 million people of whom 36% are jobless.
This is due to a lack of skills and poor education, and the question is: What has the Local Organising Committee, LOC, done to assist young people with learnerships or in-service training to empower young people in information technology, infrastructure and engineering? If the answer is no, then the World Cup means nothing to the South African youth.
Secondly, this concerns education whereby only 15% of the Grade 12 learners who pass are able to enter university; only 5% of them graduate from tertiary education; and most of them drop out. What has been done by the Fifa World Cup organisers to ensure that the education level of our people is improved and that they invest in our youth by offering them bursaries?
The World Cup has taken much of the time of learners and they will be two months behind schedule at school while busy focusing on the World Cup.
The third issue is that of crime. South Africa's youth experience violent crime on a daily basis. Murder and residential robberies have increased, which shows that there is a lot of antisocial behaviour among our youth. The youth incarceration levels have increased yearly. The World Cup should have been used to address these issues by giving the young people hope and skills to sustain themselves.
Fourthly, with regard to the issue of health, most of the young people have no access to health care. The growing number of teenage pregnancies, high levels of HIV/Aids and drug and alcohol abuse among our youth is a source of concern.
Most young people in South Africa experience physical and psychological trauma due to gender-based violence and sexual abuse. Awareness campaigns are urgently needed and the World Cup should have been used as the platform to communicate with the youth about these issues.
Lastly, rural youth development is another issue which the World Cup should be addressing in order to breach the growing gap between the urban and rural youth. This event is inaccessible to the rural youth with most of them having no means to enjoy the World Cup. The tickets are too expensive and even the Bafana Bafana T-shirts are too costly; they cannot afford them.
They still hope that one day they might be rescued from their plight and do not even have a sense of feeling that the World Cup is here in their country. The National Youth Development Agency, NYDA, is inaccessible to the rural youth. While on a mobilisation visit of the World Cup in Lichtenburg in the North West, last week ... [Interjections.]