House Chairperson, today is not a day for petty politicking or cheap rhetoric. Addressing the Inkatha Youth Brigade on 18 June 1985, the IFP president, hon Buthelezi, said:
Because there is so much at stake, and because there is such a vast suffering among our people, I believe it is vitally necessary for us to be sure in everything we do. Every failure we make is a failure which costs some people more suffering. Every time we blunder, we delay final victory and we prolong the suffering of the people. Every misconceived strategy retards progress and increases the difficulties which lie ahead. Our humanity cries out for us to have wise strategies that will work and to embark on ventures which can succeed. These words are timeless. On the basis of these words, the IFP is committed to nation-building and the principles of constructive opposition. Since 1997, the IFP Youth Brigade has called for the creation of a national youth department, with a fully fledged Ministry, to operate in all three spheres of government. This is an issue that we have skirted around for far too long. This hide-and-seek game we are playing must come to an end.
On 13 November 2004, the IFP Youth Brigade sent a memorandum to the Presidency, calling for the establishment of a youth Ministry. Nine years on, we still await a response. [Interjections.] The disjointed manner in which youth matters are handled in this country is at best shameful and inconsistent with the dreams, hopes and aspirations of young South Africans.
This very Parliament does not have a committee of any kind, form or sort to deal with youth matters, except for the ad hoc oversight by the Department of Performance, Monitoring and Evaluation, DPME, over the NYDA and the by- the-way steering committee on youth month.
I am glad that the proposal I made to the steering committee on the youth parliament, for the establishment of a multiparty youth caucus, has received support. This morning a proposal to that effect was handed over to the presiding officers by the steering committee.
The absence of both a youth Ministry and a parliamentary committee on youth matters has resulted in the NYDA having to squat in the Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation. In this regard, the oversight on the NYDA is very confusing, disorganised and peripheral: The budget allocation for the NYDA comes out of the Presidency Vote 1, but its spending is monitored by another department. Therefore, the money is debated in Vote 1 and overseen somewhere else.
The absence of a portfolio committee on the Presidency further compounds this problem. In all this chaos it is the youth of South Africa that is left wanting. Youth development deserves the same treatment as women development as it is prioritised through the Department of Women, Children and People with Disabilities, in the portfolio committee and the multiparty women's caucus.
The sacrifices of our past should spur us into action to improve the lives of all South Africans, particularly the youth, who are hit hardest by each and every failure. We owe it to the memory of the youth of 1976, the youth of 2013 and the youth of tomorrow to establish the necessary institutions that will ensure that we alleviate their plight and guarantee that they secure sustainable livelihoods. We can no longer pay lip service to youth development. The rhetoric is stale and the time for implementation is now.
In conclusion, let me say that the failure of government to fast-track job creation, particularly among the youth, is something that the ruling party is going to regret in the election next year. [Interjections.] Sort it out very, very quickly! [Applause.]