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The National Youth Commission (NYC) wishes to respond to comments made by Manny De Freitas, MPL, published in the Citizen newspaper of Monday, 05 March 2001. As a matter of fact, all issues raised by Mr De Freitas were raised in the final report conducted by the Office of former Auditor-General, Mr Henri Kluever, which was released about 3 years ago. All these issues were attended to by the NYC to the satisfaction of the AG's Office and the Standing Committee on Public Accounts in Parliament. The NYC is surprised that same issues are raised by Mr De Freitas who as an MPL, is supposed to have been among the first public representatives to lay his hands on the document at least more than two years ago.

In the previous response to this matter, the NYC has stated that, after acting on the advice of the State Tender Board, it did not conform to Tender Regulations during the first two years of its existence, i.e. 1996-1997 to 1997-1998 financial years. It was on the basis of such an advice that the AG termed all unauthorised expenditure as being only "technical" in nature. This fact clearly demonstrates that there was no question of abuse, corruption or mismanagement. After seeking legal advice, the NYC agreed to the AG's viewpoint that it would comply with normal Public Service, Tender Board and Treasury Regulations, which it has done ever since.

In subsequent correspondence with the AG's Office and the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, it was agreed that the NYC would on the basis of the incorrect earlier State Tender Board advice - seek an ex post facto-approval from State Expenditure of all "technically" unauthorised expenditure incurred in those first two years of its existence. This process is underway as agreed.

This matter appeared widely in the press during the course of the past two years to no further contestation from any public interest party and the NYC is quite surprised is raised for a third year running, and receives coverage of this proportion.

The issue of irregular promotions of seven employees was discovered through the NYC internal control systems long before the release of the 1999 AG's report. The NYC management moved swiftly to reverse such promotions. An internal inquiry was held within the organisation and disciplinary action was taken against the concerned staff member. The staff member was dismissed as soon as the results of the inquiry proved that she was the perpetrator of the misconduct. The NYC immediately put measures in place to recover all the monies from the staff concerned.

For safeguarding two fundamental principles of journalism, namely, integrity and independence, the NYC remains deeply concerned about the continued re-publication of the same issues by certain sections of the media. Media are free to decide on the content of their newspapers like any other medium of expressing and debating "public opinion". This also seeks to say that the NYC is not immune to criticism, as it is a public entity. It is also hoped that readers and newspaper would not interpret this reaction as interference to editorial decision and the freedom of expression. To the NYC, this is a constitutionally safeguarded right and remains non-negotiable.

However, the NYC would like to echo the words of the Minister in the Presidency, Dr Essop Pahad, who indicated that media would be criticised by those of us in government who feel that they (media) are indulging in systematic hostility directed against the government and its entities. Such well-orchestrated attempts to our democracy put the independence of media at stake, as people who have ulterior motives would interpret it as being subject to manipulation. Such tendencies smack of an ill feeling from those who decide to write and publish such stories that they are bitter because they have lost out in the great transition to democracy.

With regard to the statement that "the public has heard nothing about what the NYC has actually achieved" reveals how Mr De Freitas has really lost touch with youth issues.

The NYC has in the past two years implemented and conducted an intensive communication campaign which has successfully informed the youth development sector, strategic stakeholders and the general public of its work as mandated by the National Youth Commission Act of 1996.

In the light of the angle in which Mr De Freitas letter was prominently displayed in your paper the NYC wishes to provide your readers with the following achievements of the Commission:

a) The NYC successfully spearheaded a consultative (which Mr De Freitas represented his party in) development and completion of the National Youth Policy ahead of the yearlong schedule set for it by the youth sector in 1997. The Policy comprehensively details a national framework for sustainable youth development harnessing the work of all government agencies as well as civil society and the private sector. The Youth Policy was agreed unanimously by 167 national youth organisations and has been cited internationally as an example of best practice, both in terms of the consultative way in which it was developed as well as the quality of the final product itself. This historical document has been submitted to the Presidency, which will take forward the process of enactment.

b) The establishment of the Inter-Departmental Committee on Youth Affairs (IDC) as a mechanism to co-ordinate the youth programmes of 38 government departments and agencies in an integrated manner. The IDC is now an ongoing feature of the day-to-day operations of government departments ensuring the interests of youth are integral to programme planning and implementation across Government departments have successfully implemented youth development programmes which are published in the Guide to Government Youth Programmes.

c) The Youth Commission Act also instructs the NYC to establish a National Youth Information Service, which was set up in 1998 and boasts of a call centre, that has successfully responded to more than 34 180 calls in its first month. The service has three components, namely, the youth line, an internet web site and will be publishing a Youth Survival Guide very soon. The success of these services has been due to a number of working partnership arrangements the Commission developed with youth development stakeholders.

d) The NYC has successfully laid the foundation for the establishment of the National Youth Service through the development of the White Paper on National Youth Service as required by the National Youth Policy. Pilot projects on the renovation and rehabilitation of public buildings have been successfully conducted in three provinces, namely, the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and the Northern Province. A closing ceremony will be held very soon to honour the 416 young people who have responded to the call to reconstruct and develop our previously disadvantaged communities. Another leg of the pilot which focuses on environment will be launched in North West very soon where 90 young people will be involved in the implementation of the Water For All community service project.

e) The NYC has also established the Young Positive Living Ambassadors project which involves young people living with HIV/AIDS in an extensive peer communication programme at schools, civics and community groupings. Ambassadors are currently spreading the message on the dangers of unprotected sex in four provinces, namely, KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, Northern Province and Mpumalanga. The success of the project has resulted into the Commonwealth Youth Programme visiting the Commission offices seeking experiences on how best to expand the programme to other parts of the Continent. Tanzania is one of the countries where the project is beginning to yield good results.

f) The NYC, in conjunction with the Department of Labour and Ntsika Enterprises, has developed a National Youth Economic Participation Strategy. The strategy details practical pilot programmes focussing specifically on the development of appropriate support and training for young entrepreneurs and unemployed young people.

g) The NYC has also successfully implemented a Young Prisoners' Programme, a satellite education project in association with Africa's satellite signal provider, Orbicom. The programme develops practical business and life skills for prison inmates beyond the limitations of prison life and crime. Satellite broadcasts into three prisons (Hawequa in the Western Cape, Westville Prison in the KwaZulu-Natal and Thohoyandou in the Northern Province) involved in the pilot phase took place every Thursday throughout 1999 and the first group of prisoners graduated in the Western Cape in December. Discussions are underway with the Department of Correctional Services to establish the feasibility of the programme being integrated into existing rehabilitation strategies.

h) The NYC continues to provide information, training and capacity building programmes for youth organisations. The following work has enjoyed prominence among these programmes:
* Partnering with Unisa in offering a Diploma Course to 156 youth workers.
* Co-managing a co-operation and exchange programme with the Government of Flanders providing exchange of skills and experience between the South African and Belgian youth workers. Currently 60 youth organisation representatives who work as volunteers are benefiting from this programme;
* Partnering with the Association of Western Parliamentarians (AWEPA) in equipping national and provincial youth workers with the management skills to integrate youth development into development planning processes
* Partnering with the University of Venda's Centre for youth Studies in developing a Diploma course for professional youth workers.
* Activating an agreement to nominate 4 young South Africans each year to attend the Danish International School and develop certified skills and academic training in the management of youth projects.
* The NYC has also successfully secured funding for the Streetwise organisation, which deals with placing homeless youth into stable home environments.

i) Since 1999, the NYC has continued to play a prominent role in mobilising the youth sector to actively participate in the election process in a number of ways including showing up as volunteers at voter educators and assisting with the election itself. This has resulted in significant improvement of youth turnout at voter registration points despite a number of factors, which have significantly reduced their numbers at the voter registration point. Some of those factors include timing both in deciding on the voter registration period and elections. The role and contribution of the NYC in marshalling broad commitment within the youth sector and in running its own voter participation and registration programmes with young people - particularly in the rural and outlying areas - is a matter of media record. Mr De Freitas has on a number of occasions appeared in the media programmes on elections, including SABC's Two Way live broadcast, on opportunities that have been created by this Commission in the campaign to encourage youth to register to vote. Again Mr De Freitas attended and participated in a Youth Summit on 1999 general elections convened by the NYC at Unisa on January 06, 2001.

j) The NYC continues to take responsibility for managing and staging of South Africa's National Youth Day events. For year 2000, the theme of "Youth Fighting HIV/AIDS into the African Century" was adopted to guide all activities during Youth Month across the country. For this year, the President has made an announcement in his Reply to the State of the Nation Address that the Presidency, the NYC together with the Departments of Sports and Recreation and Arts, Culture, Science and Technology need to collaborate to stage a national event to commemorate the 25 Anniversary of June 16, the National Youth Day. The Commission has pro-actively set up a meeting with the Minister in the Presidency, Dr Pahad, who gave an indication that a first meeting the four Departments mentioned by the President would be held very soon to unpack the announcement.

With regard to the statement "jobs-for-pals", the NYC would like to state that in terms of the National Youth Commission Act, Commissioners are appointed by the President after receiving recommendations from Parliament which conducts public nomination process through an open and public process. Mr De Freitas' party participates in these processes and is free to raise their concerns in the Parliamentary Joint Monitoring Committee on the Improvement of Quality of Life and Status on Youth, Children and Disabled Persons. The administrative staff of the NYC are appointed in terms of Public Service Act and there is no clause that calls for "a jobs-for-pals" system of appointment as Mr De Freitas is led to believe.

Mr De Freitas also calls for the NYC to be disbanded.

It is unforgivable for Mr De Freitas to fail to recognise the role the NYC plays in the supporting the government programme of nation building. For him to wage such a stinging attack against a body that, for the past five years of existence, has successfully mobilised the majority of young people to positively contribute towards the government initiative of reconciliation despite the visible existence of a groundswell in national youth movement smacks of deliberate refusal to understand and recognise what ubuntu, as an integral part of South African culture, means to our African society.

The majority of young South Africans are reasoning men and women who after 1994 decided to put behind them anger and frustration of the legacy of all the human-made moments of anti-human actions. Up to this day they have continued to engage the NYC as a democratically set-up organ of youth development which has been mandated by an act of Parliament to co-ordinate and facilitate youth development in the post-apartheid era.

The call for the disbandment of the NYC is very shortsighted and immature for without the little that the Commission is doing with the full support of youth organisations and government departments, at some point in future; we will experience an enormous and angry explosion by those who remain disadvantaged. Moreover, his utterances and his party do nothing decisive to end disadvantaged position of those whom the apartheid system deliberately sought to disadvantage. Mr De Freitas writings about the NYC are nothing else but a manifestation of racist arrogance of those who have convinced themselves that they are superior.

The NYC will continue to have its doors wide open to any constructive criticism from any youth leader or ordinary young South African or citizen. We need to think deeply before throwing up any criticism as our present life is scarred a thousand times by our dreaded past and, as young people who are mandated to lead this Commission emerge from the ranks of our society who, up until this day, continue to fight a struggle - a struggle to control our own bitterness.

As we move forward, as young people from two different backgrounds, one prosperous another poor, we need to reach a point where we have to make mutually binding decisions that refuse to recognise those human-made anti-human actions. The statement by Manny De Freitas seeks to deny us of that wonderful opportunity of crafting that shared vision.

Contact: Monde Mkalipi on 012-325 3702 / 082 575 3976.

Issued by National Youth Commission (NYC)

6 March 2001