Hon Chairperson of the Council, Deputy Chair, hon members and comrades, it is a privilege for me to open this very important debate that is dedicated to paying tribute to the voices of young people who refused to be silenced at the height and intensity of repressive suffering that characterised all streets and corners of this country from 16 June up to when we attained our freedom.
We celebrate this day to honour the words and deeds of the young people of South Africa who faced the armed forces of the apartheid regime and protested against the brutality and dehumanising nature of the apartheid system. We celebrate this day to say to the people of South Africa, let us not forget the voices of the young soldiers who stamped their collective feet and faced the ruthless aggression of the apartheid state in defence of our collective freedom. Here I want to include those young white men who, difficult as it was, defied their parents and the state, and joined uMkhonto weSizwe. We celebrate this day to pay tribute and homage to the young people who risked everything in their lives in pursuit of the liberation of the oppressed masses of our people.
Indeed, some of these young people lost their lives and some went to foreign lands. We always sing ...
... Mhlalingaphambili, ukuba abantu baye apho kungazi ma nobaba wakhe khona, kodwa baya. [... Chairperson, that people went to places where their parents had never been before.]
Others ended up languishing in prisons such as Robben Island, John Vorster Square, Drakenstein prison - which was called Victor Verster then - and many other prisons.
Those who remained behind continued to endure the brutality of the apartheid regime and its policies. They were faced with no prospects of a better life and had no opportunities. They lived in communities that were ravaged by poverty, underdevelopment, unemployment and diseases.
There is no doubt that 16 June added a new impetus to youth activism and the struggle for liberation in this country. It is the day that characterises the true embodiment of the tireless dedication and affirmation that drove South Africa's youth to rise up against apartheid and its brutal forces. It is the day when the young people of this country made unimaginable sacrifices so that we could be free today. In so doing, they freed the oppressors as well.
In celebrating 16 June, we acknowledge with great pride that young people played an instrumental role in dismantling the foundation of the apartheid state. We acknowledge that young people defied the apartheid regime's quest to maintain the school as a politically protected space that was relatively shielded from the repressive conditions that were faced by its community.
As we continue our quest to dismantle the legacy of apartheid settlement, apartheid education, its economy, fragmented health systems and orchestrated poverty, we acknowledge that young people in our country are still facing many challenges. With some 39% of society aged between 14 and 35 years, young people in South Africa comprise a substantial part of the South African society.
However, due to the systematically orchestrated apartheid system, many young people are still held captive in the intricate webs of poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, lack of opportunities and poor health. This is largely so because, for decades, young people in South Africa were disoriented and deprived of opportunities for growth by a string of racially orchestrated policies and legislation.
Despite these challenges, the government - and, of course, let me say, when I speak of the government, I speak of the ANC government, so that I qualify it correctly - has moved decisively in creating expanded opportunities for the youth in our country. For the first time in the history of our country, the aspirations, needs and conditions of everyone are recognised and articulated through various policies, pieces of legislation, programmes, structures and institutions.
The establishment of a national youth policy in 1996 provided a comprehensive framework for youth development in a postapartheid society. We ensured that the youth were given meaningful opportunities to reach their full potential for growth and development.
After several years of engagement with the youth, the government acknowledged the lack of uniform implementation of policies to advance the needs and aspirations of the youth. We also noted that, despite several institutions and programmes to expand economic opportunities for the youth, only a few young people were benefiting compared to the millions that needed those opportunities. Last year, through the establishment of the National Youth Development Agency, or NYDA, we made a conscious decision to address all structural shortcomings and resource deficiencies facing young people in South Africa.
The NYDA is charged with the implementation of the National Youth Policy 2009-2014, which was adopted earlier this year. It will focus on intensifying implementation of youth development interventions through broadening access. It will also strengthen the implementation capacity of the youth development machinery in South Africa, especially at provincial and local levels.
I therefore appeal to the youth of South Africa to rise up and ensure that they seize the opportunities that are before them. Whereas the youth of 1976 used their energies to mobilise and campaign against apartheid, the youth of today should use their energies to mobilise and campaign against crime and drugs in their communities. Whereas the youth of 1976 went into exile to train as soldiers of liberation, the youth of today should go to school, colleges and universities to acquire skills for their advancement and the development of our country.
The young people of today must join together to say that as young people they must not do crime. They must refuse to join criminal gangs and be at the forefront of the struggle to defeat violence against women and the rape of children as well. The young people of today must join together to say that as young people they will not do drugs and abuse alcohol. The young people of today must join together to say that as young people they will not succumb to unnecessary actions.
Finally, we would like to take this opportunity to thank the youth of this country for turning out in their masses on 22 April 2009 to cast their votes. They made sure that, forever - and I say forever - the ANC rules our country.
The ANC's overwhelming victory at the ballot box is clear proof that the youth of South Africa is convinced that the ANC is the only organisation that takes them seriously enough to place them high on the agenda for broader nation-building and transformation, and to assist them to participate in shaping their lives and their future.
Our hon President, Jacob Zuma, responded in his state of the nation address when he said that:
For as long as there are children who do not have the means nor the opportunity to receive a decent education ... we shall not rest, and we dare not falter.
I want to say, Chairperson, in the last few seconds I have, that it is on days like today that we salute Comrade Dan Montsitsi, who was one of the first to get out of the classroom on that day in 1976. Thank you. [Applause.]