24 Mar 2013

The Minister of Youth, Sport and Culture, Mr Shaw Kgathi has appealed to stakeholders to collaborate with government and support initiatives geared towards youth empowerment.

Mr Kgathi said a lot was being done by his ministry to empower young people to ensure that they have a great future. He reiterated that the government, through his ministry, continued to place youth development at the centre of the national development agenda.

Mr Kgathi was addressing the North West full council meeting to update councillors about the ministry’s mandate and programmes in place.

He noted that the government continued to focus on policy areas that promote youth entrepreneurship and use of sport and arts to provide opportunities for employment.

He cited the 2010 Revised Youth Policy, which, he said, clearly defined the responsibilities of each stakeholder.

“The policy more importantly, recognises that there are social, economic, political, geographical, legal, regional, educational and cultural issues that impact on the lives of young people.”

Mr Kgathi further informed the councillors about performance under the various themes in the policy such as youth and employment. He also noted that the policy had promoted self-employment through funding. 

Already 2 838 projects were funded since 2009 to date, and 4 653 jobs were created, while under LIMID, 1 698 projects were funded. 

Under the Citizen Empowerment Development Agency (CEDA), 203 projects were funded and 472 jobs created.

Furthermore, the minister pointed out that a total of 5 167 interns had been enrolled in the Internship Programme and 416 exited the programme after two years for the period of 2012/13.  He said 943 interns had since been offered permanent jobs.

Mr Kgathi appreciated efforts made by some ministries such as State President and Infrastructure, Science and Technology for introducing programmes aimed at empowering and developing the youth.

He said 255 youth freelancers were trained in basic journalism and photography, and were now reporting for government. In addition, he noted that the Ministry of Infrastructure, Science and Technology had also reserved a certain percentage of tenders for youth.

The minister urged the youth to take advantage of the programmes in place to improve their living standard.

He further appealed to North West councillors to give priority to the procurement policy as a form of affirmative action to address the lack of market for youth products. He also urged them to cater for youth when preparing District Development Plans.

Furthermore, Mr Kgathi dismissed reports that boot camp graduates were exploited. He explained that the programme targets unemployed young people to gain experience and expand their chances of being employed.

“It is a character moulding 4 to 6 weeks programme which entails a variety of initiatives and different professionals are being invited to impart information and knowledge to the youth,” he added.

The minister stressed that some beneficiaries had already attested to the benefits gained from the camp, saying they were taught different skills such as time management, discipline, entrepreneurship skills and elements of patriotism on issues related to team work and team building.  ENDS