Chairperson, good afternoon everybody, hon members, compatriots, colleagues and comrades seated in the gallery, especially the Chairperson of the National Youth Commission.
Ladies and gentlemen, I am indeed honoured to present to this House the National Youth Development Agency Bill. When we talk about legislation that is meant to impact positively on the lives of our young people, we know that we are talking about our own future. Young people not only represent the future, but are the guardians of the painful legacy of our past.
The pivotal role played by young people in the fight against an unjust system is well recognised all over the world and by our government. As you know, thousands of young people sacrificed their lives, their youth and their education to take on a role that was well beyond their years. Their bravery and courage did much to change the course of our history. We are much indebted to these young men and women because their sacrifices made it possible for all of us to live in a South Africa that is democratic, nonracial and nonsexist.
However, the price these young people had to pay meant that they found themselves at the margins of socioeconomic development in our country. This unacceptable situation has not changed much in postdemocratic South Africa.
Our young citizens, as custodians of our future and guardians of our past, have not benefited much from the fruits of our democratic dispensation. As a result of the history of apartheid, they are confronted with serious challenges. These include, amongst other things, the lack of access to appropriate education; the lack of skills necessary to drive the economy; engagement in risky lifestyles characterised by alcohol, substance abuse and tobacco use; and communicable and noncommunicable diseases, as well as accidents and trauma.
I'm sure I would not be alone in saying that these grave circumstances cannot be condoned. Government firmly believes that our young people are our national assets. They constitute a considerable portion of our population, approximately 40% of the entire population, and are therefore worth investing in in terms of material resources and through capacitating them with relevant skills and training.
For us as government and along with our social partners, youth empowerment is a national priority on our state's developmental agenda. There needs to be concerted attention and interventions directed at our young citizens by all tiers of government, the business sector, labour and indeed civil society in general.
As such, since the advent of our constitutional democracy, government has, through national development strategies such as Gear and the Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition, Jipsa, expressed its firm commitment to mitigate the historic marginalisation of youth through developing and enacting policies to advance youth development. These interventions gave rise to the development of the National Youth Commission Act and the National Youth Development Policy Framework of 2002-07.
Furthermore, the key institutions that were established to give practical effect to these policies include the National Youth Commission, provincial youth commissions and the Umsobomvu Youth Fund, as well as civil society formations amalgamated under the SA Youth Council.
Recently, the National Youth Commission successfully advocated the establishment of youth focal points within national and provincial government departments. In addition, backed by the relevant legislative policies, the respective but complementary mandates of these institutions have sought to promote youth development that is holistic and comprehensive. In all, the focus has been to promote the talents and potential of young people; realise their role in fostering a cohesive nonracial, nonsexist democratic society; foster access to quality education, health, skills development and foster employment; and promote their basic human right to sustainable livelihoods.
Through the current institutional arrangements, we can say a lot has been achieved in the sphere of youth development in our country. However, many challenges have been identified in relation to the discrepancies between the mandates, strategic objectives and programmes of the National Youth Commission and the Umsobomvu Youth Fund.
Other hurdles have been the limitations of the National Youth Commission as a policymaking, lobbying and advocacy structure with insufficient financial and human capacity to implement its mandate and the Umsobomvu Youth Fund as an implementation organisation without a policy mandate. These dynamics have now produced unnecessary tension between the two institutions, to the detriment of the benefit to the very people they were set up to serve in the first instance, and that is the youth.
For this reason, I am heartened that the National Youth Development Agency Bill has been adopted by Parliament as of 21 November 2008. I am pleased also that prior to this Bill being accepted, there was wide consultation with relevant stakeholders.
I take this opportunity, therefore, to thank all our partners for facilitating this process. I would like to commend and applaud the Minister of Labour, the National Youth Commission, the Umsobomvu Youth Fund, the National Economic Development and Labour Council and others. The final outcome of this process will see to it that a single, focused agency is formed from the merger of the National Youth Commission and the Umsobomvu Youth Fund.
In actual fact, the National Youth Development Agency aims to consolidate the gains and leverage capacities of these two institutions. We could expect that this merger will sharpen the focus through customised, responsive and relevant youth development interventions. In the process we expect that it will reach out to young people in peri-urban and rural areas as a priority, focusing on the youth who are not in the mainstream of youth development.
I'm convinced that the Bill manages to bridge the gaps which exist, particularly with respect to the activities of the Umsobomvu Youth Fund. It clearly sets out the principles of youth development in South Africa, taking into account the challenges of social and economic exclusion facing thousands of our young citizens. It recognises that youth outside the mainstream, in other words, those youths not at school and without gainful employment, require focused interventions to enhance their chances of participating in the labour market.
It is encouraging that the National Youth Development Agency will report to one executive authority, with Parliament playing an important role. The strategic programmes of the National Youth Development Agency Bill include, amongst other things, contact information and counselling services to build the social capital of youth, thus improving knowledge and access to human capital development and employment opportunities; the National Youth Service Programme to enhance employability through vocational training and work experience gained whilst striving for and providing essential services to our communities; entrepreneurial development support to increase access and participation, including sustainability of self-employment efforts of young people; and micro and small enterprise finance to improve access to affordable finance to start and grow micro and small enterprises.
In this context, product development and access to markets become absolutely critical. The other component is capacity-building to improve the capacity of organisations rendering essential services to youth, especially in the areas of vocational training, facilitation of community service, and business and development support. I believe these programmes will go a long way to ensure seamless, integrated sustainability and responsiveness to the demands and aspirations of young people in our country.
In closing, the youth of our country, including in particular the youth of 1976, were driven in their actions by hope for a brighter and more equitable South Africa. As a democratic government, we too are driven by the hope that this new institution, the National Youth Development Agency, will realise the unlimited potential of our young citizens and by so doing secure a brighter future for South Africa and indeed bring us a step closer to the realisation of long-term, high-impact youth development in our country. Thank you. [Applause.]