Chairperson, there seems to be consensus that we need to invest in our youth for us to see sustainable economic growth, but more often this consensus appears to be no more than lip service among decision- makers. Not much political will accompanies the rhetoric. If there were political will, I argue that we would by now have seen significant change in youth unemployment. Yet this has not happened, despite the professing of commitment, year in and year out.
Our President rarely misses an opportunity to speak about skills development and youth unemployment, like when he addressed the Commonwealth Conference on Education and Training of Youth Workers. He fluently articulated the issues affecting our youth, unemployment and empowerment, HIV and Aids, crime, poverty, worsening inequality, etc. However, his addresses become blurry on the strategies to be employed in addressing these challenges. We are probably worse off now than this time last year, when we look at the status quo of our youth.
We find a very sad state of affairs indeed when we consider our youth, who are our future. If we do not invest in our youth, we are disregarding our future. That would make us selfish people who do not care about what shall befall our land in the future. We are in fact robbing this land of a future. Statistics showing that more than 40% of those under the age of 30 are unemployed is a shame.
The patronising and paternalistic echoes that say that the youth must work hard are essentially passing the buck when you consider the poor state that our education system is in right now. It seems that getting a university pass is reserved for the exceptionally gifted, while the rest can just fall through the cracks.
Be that as it may, the significant increase in funding for further education and training colleges is indeed a promising step in a desirable direction. As we commit to creating jobs for our youth, we must equally commit to skilling them and ensuring that they are employable.
Similarly, the allocation of R800 million by Treasury to South Africa's green economy fund is also a light at the end of the tunnel, should its aim of providing job-creating green economy projects be attained. [Applause.]