Hon Deputy Chairperson, members of this House and guests, our youth want to be part of building solutions to the problems facing the country. In my own political party, Cope, they have branded this drive "Thuma Mina", which means "Send Me". The campaign aims to emphasise the role of every youth member to build and promote moral values.
We need a better way of celebrating Youth Day or Youth Month. This day can be used by the youth to make a difference to those less fortunate. The youth want to celebrate this month by being in mentorship programmes. The youth want to change the mindset of the growing generation towards public service. They are saying "Thuma mina ngikuyele".
Dit beteken, stuur my, sodat ek kan gaan. [That means send me, so that I may go.]
They want to be an active voice of the true democracy by starting programmes and youth forums, irrespective of their affiliations. They want to go out to schools, churches, chatrooms and political parties to spark debates about real issues facing them.
The youth also feel that agencies and commissions of our government are used to promote the ANC, thereby neglecting the majority of young people. For instance, the manner in which the government launched the National Youth Development Agency is unacceptable. It was launched in Katlehong, on Youth Day, 16 June, with other parties and formations invited as observers at this function.
Chairperson, we call on Parliament, as a matter of urgency, to consider reintroducing the Youth Parliament concept on a permanent basis. This must be coupled with localised and regionalised programmes in democracy education.
Parliament also needs to make sure that it puts in place monitoring mechanisms and performance indicators for the work of the new National Youth Development Agency. The same must apply to the work of constituency offices, which need to become key centres for the conveyance of the principles and processes of representative and participative government. Parliament must place special emphasis on reaching out to youth ... [Interjections.]