13 February 2023
Speaker of the Nation Assembly Your Excellency President Deputy President Paul Mashatile Chairperson of the NCOP
The story of Tintswalo is a story of hope reflecting on the opportunities and possibilities created by the democratic breakthrough, touching and transforming lives from Dzingi-Dzingi to Dhlomo-Dhlomo in deep rural areas.
Honourable members, we also acknowledge that there are young people who are not in employment or education and training programmes who their socio-economic challenges should be addressed on an urgent basis.
They also want to be Tintswalo’s.
30 years into democracy, our challenge is to ensure that we sustain areas of progress whether it is access to electricity, water, sanitation, waste collection and other basic services.
SOUTH AFRICANS want consistency and effective policy implementation.
Despite the technical glitches impacting NSFAS, over 4.1 million university students and 2.4 million TVET students have been supported by NSFAS since 1994.
In 2024, in addition to free education for the poor who have a total household income of R350 000, NSFAS will now fund students who are seen to be too rich to meet the requirement but too poor to afford higher education.
We welcome the 1.7 million Presidential employment programme opportunities created for youth placement in various sectors to gain skills and experience.
Digital technology has created many opportunities as the youth earn income through online platforms and build their creative careers. For example, through the influence of the South African government, our local DJs are able to showcase their talent and promote their music internationally.
In the previous financial year, the NYDA empowered 2320 Youth-owned enterprises through financial interventions, which take form through the NYDA Grant programme as well as the NYDA Voucher program.
Through these financial business interventions, 6796 jobs were created for young people employed by youth-owned businesses. Through mentorship, access to the market and business management training, the NYDA provided 34 209 young people with support.
There is a direct relationship between funding youth-owned enterprises and the creation of jobs.
One of the most significant achievements of the government was the removal of work experience of entry-level posts, and we are calling upon the private sector to follow the instruction of the President.
Mr President, We welcome the UIF- funded Labour Activation Programme (LAP) that seeks to support employment and demand led training. We know the intention is to create 2 million work opportunities in the immediate future.
We urge the Department of Employment and Labour supported by Treasury to roll out without any further delay.
President ,the youth of this country eagerly await the official launch of the cabinet-approved SANDF-led national youth service skills program.
President, the following programmes must urgently be fasttracked:
We must reskill the youth to respond to the economic demands of the country and the changing world of Artificial intelligence and digital transformation.
We need to massify higher education through digital transformation and ensure we meet the targets of the National Development Plan.
Let us widen the doors of learning.
UNISA and other universities during COVID-19 demonstrated such capability. We should develop state-of-the-art specialised universities and TVET colleges aligned with our industrialisation strategy and the competitive advantage of various Districts.
Higher education institutions do not only contribute to skills development but also have a high impact on local economic development. Higher Education institutions should be an element of our mega infrastructure development programmes.
Breaking the cycle of poverty in many families is one of the Key achievements of the ANC government.
Today a child of a domestic worker, an informal worker, a child of an unemployed parent is today a doctor, an engineer, a chartered accountant, a pilot, a CEO, a CFO and many other professions.
It is clear that the are many Tintswalo’s
Premier Panyaza Lesufi has demonstrated that provinces can also expand youth employment programmes through the Nantsi Spani programme. The Presidential employment programmes should be doubled, and all provinces should follow the example of Gauteng.
We must address the market dominance in the telecommunication sector. We need free data for all.
Global trends have shown that the small business sector is the highest job creator supported by an industrialised economy.
South Africa remains the most unequal country were the wealth of the country is still controlled by the white male minority.
We need to urgently restructure the ownership patterns of the economy to reflect the demographics of the country.
We should decisively address the land question for agricultural production and human settlement to address asset inequality.
Fundamentally, we should ensure beneficiation of our raw mineral resources and expand domestic production capacity, and to expand our industrial sector by introducing export quotas.
Young people should be the primary beneficiaries.
We must set high set aside quotas using the public procurement bill provisions to support youth-owned businesses.
We must create opportunities for youth in the arts to take advantage of the global creative ecosystem.
It is the youth who play sports and lift our flag high, and we salute them.
Therefore, we must support our sports development ecosystem and ensure increased private sponsorship for women and men sports, particularly in underprivileged areas.
President, the financial sector in South Africa is not allocating capital to support small and youth-owned businesses. The financial sector’s transformation should also focus on access to various financial services for the youth, whether its home loans, vehicle finance, most critical business finance.
Credit rates for the youth should be lowered!
The informal economy is financially excluded, and we should task all financial sector institutions to create low-cost financial services to formalise informal trading because business credit is a source of the growth of any business. Micro-financing should be expanded as many young people participate in the informal economy.
Financial technology innovation should be developed to provide zero cost for banking services for youth-owned businesses.
Our programmes must remove our youth from street corners and criminality. It must enable our youth to escape the abuse of alcohol and drug use. It must enable our youth to develop a business with ease. Our programmes should empower the girl child to not be vulnerable to exploitation and GBV-F.
Together working with the youth, civil society, business and our traditional leaders, let us create opportunities for the youth and address the youth unemployment disaster.