Morning, Deputy Chairperson. Thank you very much for the opportunity to be here today. ..."the task that we face is indeed a challenging one. But the cost of failure - for this generation's children and the next - is simply too high to bear." Those are the words of Graa Machel, the wife of Nelson Mandela.
Children and young people below the age of 24, who make up 60% to 70% of the population of most developing countries, represent the future generation, with enormous potential to achieve sustainable development. Youngsters especially - those between the ages of 15 to 24 - are able to contribute materially, through special skills, and intellectually, particularly with alternative viewpoints and innovative ideas.
The World Bank acknowledges, in its World Development Report of 2007, the youth's positive potential not only in initiating but also in implementing positive social change, if they could only get involved through participation.
However, society has to provide a supportive environment, sufficient assistance and opportunities, first of all, by investing in the human capital of these young people through adequate education, health, employment and recreation possibilities. Only then are youngsters able to become responsible adults and achieve their full potential to contribute to society's development and socioeconomic growth.
Yet the reality is that the youth are often perceived more negatively in terms of social problems, with society being reluctant or incapable of investing in the youth and/or involving them in the processes that directly concern them. This results in "depriving society of their energy, dynamism and innovative spirit", and, through this disregard, turning the youth into an uncontrollable conflict situation.
Therefore, in the World Youth Report of 2007, the United Nations states that "engaging the youth fully in the region's development is thus not a matter of choice, but an imperative". Nelson Mandela, a former President, said as well that: "The experience of all peoples is that their freedom remains fragile and their rights empty shells unless they bring real improvements to the lives of ordinary people." This quotation was taken from an address in which he emphasised that ordinary people needed to be given opportunities to bring about real improvements in their lives.
The youth of South Africa face many daunting challenges. Three million, as we have already heard, are unemployed. In the Western Cape the youth are no less challenged. We have an estimated 80 000 to 100 000 gangsters here in the Western Cape. The high levels of gangsterism and the associated social problems are the result of deteriorating social networks and of young people who seem to experience high levels of alienation and purposelessness. The vast majority of these youngsters are aged between 16 and 22 years. The majority of victims of crime fall into this category as well.
Positive male role models are often absent and this has contributed to a loss of self-esteem and self-confidence. This has led to some of the highest crime rates in South Africa and by far the highest drug-abuse rate by a factor of three.
Peer pressure plays an enormous role in this regard. Most young people lack marketable skills and have limited opportunities to participate in the formal and informal job markets. Many young people are waiting for opportunities to bring about real improvements in their lives.
The schooling system does not lend itself to artisan-based training, and many learners find themselves in conflict in the classroom because they are simply bored or are not suited to academic subjects.
Perceptions are that HIV and Aids and other social problems, such as crime, violence, abuse, drugs, prostitution, teenage pregnancy, substance abuse and parental neglect are wreaking havoc on the lives of young people. The irony is that for these very youth, the freedom and rights that seemed so promising after the dark years of apartheid are elusive and seemingly unattainable. The question needs to be asked: Where did we go wrong?
Since the Year of Youth in 1985, the United Nations has defined youth as being all young people between the ages of 15 and 24, taking into consideration the various concepts of youth in the different cultural and institutional contexts.
However, in South Africa, according to the National Youth Act of 1996, the term "youth" comprises a larger age group, including all persons from the ages of 14 to 35. These different definitions of age alone give an idea of the difficulties when trying to grasp analytically what youth in all their complexity mean.
In most of the literature, youth are simply connected to the concept of adolescence, which was invented in the early twentieth century as a universal linear transition period from childhood to adulthood, with a focus on physical and psychological development. In this phase, young people are facing various changes on different levels, especially owing to hormonal changes during puberty and trying to construct their own identity, so that adolescence is generally presented as a time of storm and stress, conflict and confusion, which makes them vulnerable to risky behaviour.
This is compounded in our system at the moment by too few male teachers acting as male role models. Little emphasis is placed on youth leadership, such as prefect bodies, and there is an absence of structured physical education in school. I could go on.
For those youngsters leaving school, especially the early leavers, there are very few clear-cut options. The military, in many countries an option for those needing a change, is essentially a closed shop in this country, with a very low volume of intakes.
Skills training appears unstructured, with too few options at the moment, and even a place like the traditional dockyard, which produced outstanding artisans in the past, has been lost as an option.
In the Western Cape we are working towards a comprehensive youth strategy. Already all departments have their own youth projects in place. One such department is the Department of Economic Development and Tourism in which they have a number of projects, like a new venture creation project for women, a public-private partnership for 100 females that will run for the next two years.
There is also the workplace skills programme, the contact centre, which is a call centre programme, and a tourism-based project that will take 400 disadvantaged people into this industry.
Significantly, today is the 10th anniversary of Project Chrysalis, which falls under the Department of Community Safety. This unique award-winning programme, now recognised both internationally and nationally, takes unemployed youths between the ages of 17 and 25 and puts them through three months of rigorous training. Training often lasts 18 hours a day. Emphasis is placed on physical, emotional and spiritual wellness while, at the same time, exposing the youths to skills opportunities and developing the full potential of an individual. Of the thousands of graduates, some are here working in this parliamentary precinct at the moment.
The essence of the training is based on personal growth and group discipline, teamwork, proper preparation for life, and one's rights and concurrent responsibilities within a constitutional state.
Significantly, this approach has attracted many more applications than there are places available. The academy has had to stop advertising, and even three more such institutions would not cater for the volume of students applying.
Ironically, this approach is almost the opposite of the one taken by the government at the moment in approaching youth development, where malcontents are tolerated - eulogized, even. Their misbehaviour has seen destruction, disruption and dishonour wrought upon their generation and the country as a whole. Simply giving money to misguided youths is like giving razor blades to a child, or substituting parental guidance and love by dropping your child off at the mall with wads of cash.
South Africa is missing a huge opportunity in youth development. There is a desperate need for inspired leadership on the matter. Ironically, our youth are hungry for challenges and not handouts. The problem lies with us, the adults, who are confused, morally bent and who shy away from reality - and we have heard about some of that this morning.
In the early 1930s, at the height of the Great Depression, Franklin Delano Roosevelt championed several nationwide initiatives to lift his country, especially the youth, out of poverty. One such project was the Civilian Conservation Corps. This project, a cross between our Expanded Public Works Programme and the Chrysalis model, helped millions of youths and laid the foundation for the most advanced parks service in the world today. Members would do well to Google this project and find out what it did for the United States.
There is a danger, however, that any person who feels that youth development is a chance to misuse our youth politically, to sell them an inferior product, or to create false expectations, is doing not only those youths a grave disservice, but undermining the nation as a whole. Leadership in this noble cause must be pure, uncompromising and focused on nation-building.
In that regard, I would like, if I may, Deputy Chair, to address myself to one or two comments that were made this morning, because I would have thought, as very highly paid public representatives, that we would know a little bit more about our Constitution. Here is a copy of the provincial constitution of the Western Cape. It is a fully authorised legal document. It came into operation on 16 January 1998. I have a copy here for the Deputy Chairperson, which I will give to the Table to pass over to the Deputy Chairperson.
Chapter 4 of the constitution says that "the executive authority of the Western Cape is vested in the premier". [Interjections.]