Chairperson, Ministers present, Deputy Ministers, hon members, comrades and friends, driven by what one of the revolutionaries of our time, Ch Guevara, offered us -
... a great sense of duty, a sense of duty towards a society we are building, towards our fellow human beings and towards all the people around the world.
Young men and women of this country joined the South African struggles for freedom and democracy.
Political struggles culminated in the 1994 democratic breakthrough, which marked the end of the system of apartheid colonialism. It was a historical breakthrough that ushered in an important epoch in the history of the majority of South African youth, in which youth development would become central to the developmental agenda of our state. Because of both the contributions the young people of our country made in bringing about freedom and democracy, and the challenges that continue to face them, we cannot watch and do nothing when these young heroes and heroines of our land require intervention from Parliament to further advance the struggles of young people.
It was both the socioeconomic challenges facing young people and the weaknesses within the existing institutions of youth development that necessitated the intervention of our democratic parliament. This is the context within which we should understand the resolution of Parliament on 23 September to establish a committee to process legislation to establish the National Youth Development Agency, which is the subject of our debate today.
Following this resolution of the House, our committee was established and in turn it constituted a technical team to assist it in drafting this legislation establishing the National Youth Development Agency. Indeed, this team helped this committee to consolidate ideas and the views of the committee members in developing draft legislation, which was later published for public comment and submissions.
Before the actual public hearings, this committee, through its chairperson, formally and informally consulted with those who are directly affected by this process. These included institutions such as the Umsobomvu Youth Fund; the National Youth Commission; the Minister in the Presidency, Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang; and the Minister of Labour, hon Sheperd Mdladlana.
As for matters that will assist the committee in processing the legislation, while much may be said about initial misgivings that engulfed these consultations, they appear to have generated some results which, to an extent, have assisted the committee to understand the complex issues.
Subsequently, this committee consulted with various youth formations representing young people from across the country, which had converged in Birchwood, Johannesburg to attend a youth dialogue convened by the National Youth Commission on institutional arrangements for youth development in South Africa. The complex issues arising from this legislation also require us to consult with Nedlac. I must say that we have consulted Nedlac as well.
Following on our presentation and discussions, Nedlac never objected to the processing and even the finalisation of this legislation; instead it raised issues that it wanted to be addressed in the legislation. I must also mention that such issues are indeed taken care of in this Bill. In addition to written submissions on this legislation, our committee allowed various youth formations and individual young people - I repeat, individual - from all over the country to make oral representations during the public hearings.
In fact, the written and oral submissions received from youth commissions and individual young people from other organisations that deal with issues of young people, helped us in developing this legislation. Without fear of contradicting myself, let me say that in processing this legislation, our committee has taken into account many of the issues, concerns and proposals raised during the public hearings on this legislation. The committee has indeed consulted extensively on this legislation.
We developed this legislation we are debating today fully aware that young people require space, opportunity and support to maximise their collective and individual capacities, skills and abilities to develop themselves and society as a whole.
Understanding the challenges created by unintegrated institutional mechanisms for youth development, we now establish a new mechanism intended -
... to ensure seamless integration, sustainability and responsiveness to the demands and aspirations of young people in this country.
The new mechanism I am referring to is the National Youth Development Agency, which will exist as a unitary public entity. Such a public entity will ensure that youth development becomes central in the country's development agenda. The agency will promote a uniform approach by organs of state, the private sector and nongovernmental organisations on youth development. It will initiate, design, co-ordinate and monitor all government programmes aimed at integrating youth into the economy and society in general. In particular, it will also help to develop an integrated youth development strategy and guidelines for the implementation of a national youth policy. Moreover, the legislation also empowers the agency to implement programmes aimed at developing the young people of this country.
However, critically important is that the agency needs to have the organisational, human and financial capacity to lead and guide youth development, especially internal capacity to implement, monitor and evaluate implementation on policy and programmes of youth development.
We understand that change creates uncertainties, fears and anxiety. It can never be an intention of Parliament to depress young people who are dedicated in these institutions to promote youth development in our country.
We therefore urge all of these young people, the young men and women working in these institutions and offices, which are directly affected by this process, to redouble their efforts in responding to the demands and aspirations of young people. They have contracts that are guiding them and they have benchmarks that they need to fulfil. They have nothing to fear, instead they have to continue working, knowing that we have included in the legislation provisions that protect the staff working in these institutions and offices.
In conclusion, let me say that the youth remain a cornerstone of our democracy. The future of this country depends on their willingness and participation. The youth remain central in transforming our society to improve the lives of our people, especially the poor and marginalised sections.
However, the youth must understand their duty to participate actively in the political, social and economic life of our country, to combat discrimination and racism and promote democratic values. Thank you. [Applause.]