DEPUTY MINISTER BUTI MANAMELA COMMENDS YOUTH DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES
Deputy Minister in the Presidency for Planning Monitoring and Evaluation, Mr Buti Manamela paid a visit to youth development initiatives in Johannesburg. The visits took place today, 14 October 2016 to Harambee as well as City Year. Deputy Minister Manamela had an opportunity to address young people who access the services provided. .
The visit was intended to brief the Deputy Minister on the work done to connect young people with employment opportunities. Harambee is a youth employment accelerator that seeks to match employers with high potential candidates who are on the margins and cannot reach information.
One of the interventions to dealing with the challenge of unemployment is encouraging the youth to enterprise and be job creators. Entrepreneurship has been identified in the National Youth Policy 2015 – 2020 (NYP2020) as one of the ways South Africa can get more young people into the economy.
The NYP2020 also emphasises the need for a National Youth Service Programme (NYSP) that will ensure that young people play a significant role within their communities. This can be achieved by leveraging resources and capacity from all of government as well as the private sector.
It is against this background that Deputy Minister Manamela also paid a visit to the City Year, an organisation that brings young people together for a period of twelve months for voluntary service. In the City Year programme young people also take part in civic engagement and gain leadership skills in a gap year.
“Harambee and City Year are definitive examples of how much can be achieved when all sectors play a role in youth development, because government cannot do it alone. The global challenge of youth unemployment calls for innovative solutions that can be implemented by all of society.” said Deputy Minister Manamela.
Deputy Minister Manamela further congratulated the work done by the organisations and challenged them to further achieve the NDP Vision 2030 ideals.
Enquiries: Matshepo Seedat Media Liaison Officer to the Deputy Minister on 082 679 9473/ Matshepo@dpme.gov.za
ISSUED BY THE MINISTRY IN THE PRESIDENCY
PLANNING MONITORING AND EVALUATION
UNION BUILDINGS
