On Thursday, 16 June 2022, South Africa commemorated a National Youth Day at King Sabata Dalindyebo Municipality in Mthatha in the Eastern Cape Province.
The Youth Day is observed annually on 16 June in honour of 1976 Students uprising against the use of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction at schools. The June 16 Commemoration was celebrated under the theme “Promoting sustainable livelihood and resilience of young people for a better tomorrow”
The occasion gave some young entrepreneurs the chance to inspire other young people to keep going after their aspirations and make use of government initiatives designed to help them.
A young woman who started a cleaning services company, Nozuko Tshoba, was one of the speakers. Her business produces cleaning detergents and was funded by National Youth Development Agency (NYDA). As a NYDA beneficiary, she expressed her gratitude saying, “I am the embodiment of government support for young people.”
Additionally, Sibusiso Ngwenya, who owns a socks brand which is distributed by a big retailer, The Foschini Group (TFG), shared the platform with the president. He revealed that he had also entered the auto sector to manufacture the first South African car brand, which would provide job opportunities for other young people. He asserted that opportunity required perseverance, hard work, and hope.
President Cyril Ramaphosa spoke as the keynote speaker, highlighting presidential initiatives to promote youth employment.
In his speech, he mentioned some of the steps taken to better people’s lives since the dawn of democracy. These include children’s access to primary and higher education, a school meal program, and social protection for vulnerable and marginalized communities.
The president added that, despite these successes, the government remains dedicated to overcoming the problems the nation is currently facing. The country has been severely impacted by the COVID 19 pandemic breakout, the July 2021 turmoil, and the terrible floods that occurred in the provinces of KwaZulu-Natal, the Northwest, and the Eastern Cape, on top of the difficulties of poverty, inequality, and unemployment.
He continued by saying that the priority of government is to revive the economy and create jobs, particularly for young people.
The president said that “It is for this reason that we announced the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention, which is a comprehensive response to the youth unemployment challenge.
We have also launched the Presidential Employment Stimulus, which supports public and social employment, and which has created close on 880,000 job opportunities since it was established.”
During the event, several government initiatives that encourage young people in being economically active were revealed, including:
Social Employment Fund
National Pathway Management Network
Future of Work Ambassadors programme
National Skills Fund
National Youth Service
Youth Employment Service – known as YES
“We will continue to provide young entrepreneurs with the capital and networks to grow their start-up businesses. In the past financial year, 7,500 young people have received financial enterprise support and over 30,000 young people have received other enterprise support from the National Youth Development Agency and the Department of Small Business Development.” The president informed those in attendance.
The president further alluded that the government must assist South African youth in realizing their full potential since they possess a strong sense of entrepreneurial spirit and enthusiasm.
In conclusion, the president called upon young people to refrain from crime instead be united and focused in playing their role in building the communities and economy of this country.
