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16 June 2007

Programme Director
The Mayor Mantsopa Municipality Councillor Mathee
The Executive Mayor Motheo Municipality Councillor Chaine
Members of the Executive Council
The Chairperson and Commissioners of the Free State Youth Commission
Nominees and recipients of the Premier Youth Awards
The representative of youth organisation
Ladies and gentlemen
The Youth of our province

It is always a great honour to be part of such an esteemed occasion which surely stands out as the highlight of events on our youth calendar.

The Premier Youth Awards have evolved over the past few years into the highest form of recognition bestowed on the youth of our province for demonstrating exceptional conduct in pursuit of their talents, youth development and service excellence.

Over the years, recipients of these awards have carried the torch of excellence and have truly become true ambassador of our province.

When any organisation or community bestows any award on anyone, it is the highest form of regard and appreciation that can ever be placed on any one. Likewise with these awards, we say to you who are honoured today, that you are a repository of our collective good. You make us proud of your achievements and you contribute in many different ways to the growth and development of our beloved province.

Programme Director, it is always fulfilling to participate in any event that honours young people. When we honour youth, we reaffirm that the future of our country is indeed in safe hands. We declare that the process of transforming, reconstructing and developing our country will be taken to its logical conclusion because we do have foot soldiers that are equal to that task.

When we honour youth, we say to those who came before us that their sacrifices were not in vain. We are picking up where they left off to advance forward towards the creation of a society based on the values of freedom, peace and justice.

We say to the 1976 generation, that it is indeed possible to create a society where the youth are supported to reach their full potential, where the doors of education and culture are opened to all and where there are no limits imposed on creativity and innovation.

Programme Director, when we say all of this things about our youth, it is because we understand that youth represents an important link between the past, the present and the future and that their development represents the most important investment any society can make.

Our youth, like the rest of Apartheid South Africa, have come a long way and it is always important that at all appropriate times, we must never shy away to salute their refusal to succumb to the ideological colonisation unleashed unto them through Bantu education.

We gather here today, like we did so many times during the June month of youth development, to recommit ourselves to those who made the supreme sacrifices with their lives, that we shall never betray their course and that we shall do all in our power to create a society where the rest of us and our youth in particular can reach their full potential as free citizens of the global community.

When we as the democratic government took over in 1994, we inherited a society ravaged by the socio economic and political unequal relations of Apartheid Colonialism. Our youth were the most affected by this legacy. Apartheid robbed our youth of an opportunity to be young and care free. It sought to break their spirit so that they dare not to dream and resign themselves as the so-called lost generations.

This system, which was stamped as a crime against humanity denied our youth of a right of decent education. It denied them of an opportunity to play, to experiment, to be creative and to contribute to the general well being of our country.

Obviously, our task of rolling back the accumulated deficits of Apartheid on our youth had to be undertaken as a matter of extreme urgency. It is for this reason that right way in 1996, we passed the Free State Youth Commission act which paved way for the establishment of the Free State Youth Commission, as an institutional body to research and lobby policies and programmes aimed at the development of youth.

Over and above the establishment of the Youth Commission, government facilitated through the Free State Youth Commission, the establishment of Special Programme officers responsible for among others things for youth development as well as the appointments of Local Youth Development officers in all municipalities. The creation of this institutional capacity is to ensure that in all its planning and at all levels, government is alive to the challenges and developmental priorities for youth development.

This capacity within government would ensure that as we finalise the Free State Growth and Development Strategy for the province and as municipalities finalise their Integrated Development Plans, the voice of young people finds expression and that their interest are catered for.

We welcome the readiness of our cabinet to heed the call of our youth to integrate all efforts for the development of our youth through the creation of a single youth development agency and the implementation of an integrated youth development strategy. We will work very closely with the Free State Youth Commission and all youth formations to phase in this important institutional rearrangement.

Furthermore, in an attempt to address the glaring problems of skills development, government through he National Skills Development Strategy, introduced a number of interventions such as the recapitalisation of Further Education Training (FET) centres, the introduction of learnership programmes facilitated through our various Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs).

As part of this learnership programmes, the Department of Labour has put aside an amount of R96 million for learnerships in the various sectors of our economic activities. Very soon we will be calling on youth through adverts and other means to take advantage of this massive skills development intervention.

The provincial government has consolidated our various departmental bursaries into a comprehensive provincial government bursary scheme which to date has allocated bursaries to the total tune of R160 million to the most deserving students in the province. This is over and above the R1 billion allocated by the National Minister of Education to the National Students Financial Aid Scheme.

For purposes of proper co-ordination of all skills development initiatives, the provincial government is facilitating the establishment of a provincial Joint Initiative on Priority Skills Acquisition (Jipsa) co-ordinating forum which will asses the impact of all our skills development interventions on our youth.

Quite clearly, 13 years down the line, there is a need for our democratic government; we have to look into the situation of youth today and asses the extent of our programmes. To help us do that, we convened last year in September, a provincial conference on youth development. Some of the key resolutions which are already operational include:

* The establishment of the National Youth Service Programme Unit in the Premier's office. This unit is responsible to rollout the National Youth Service programmes in all municipalities and all provincial departments. The Deputy President has already launched the National Youth Service Programme in April this year and already three of our provincial departments are already undertaking some forms of National Youth Service Programme.
* The adoption of the Integrated Youth Development Strategy and its alignment to the Free State Growth and Development Strategy.
* The launch of the Provincial Youth Fund in partnership with the Umsobomvu Youth Fund and the Free State Development Corporation. This fund is already operational and the Youth Commission will be embarking on a Provincial Road show to expose it to potential beneficiaries.
* The expansion of the database for unemployed graduates and unemployed youth generally as a mechanism of placement, recruitment and referrals for our youth.

Our emphasis is that our youth must never become passive recipients of goods and services. Just like the 1976 generation of youth, our current generation must understand that their destiny lies in their own hands. As such, the youth must go out and look for information that will empower them. The youth must organise themselves to take the best advantage of opportunities presented by our democracy.

South Africa and our province in particular have legitimate expectations from our youth!

We proceed from the understanding that our youth are the principal motive forces of the reconstruction and development of our society. They therefore have to carry the title of being young with pride and in a manner that gives due respect and recognition to generations which came before them and which have sacrificed so much.

Among our expectations is that our youth must be the first to volunteer and the last to leave the battle fields!

We expect of our youth to condemn and stay away from drugs, alcohol and other substances. They have to be activists in the defeat of HIV and AIDS and other communicable diseases by first and foremost displaying responsible sexual behaviour and showing care and compassion to those affected and infected by the diseases.

Our youth have to work hand in glove with the safety and security organs, notably the South African Police Service (SAPS), to free our communities from the scourge of crime. Enrolment in the SAPS reservists, participation in Community Policing and Safety forums, reporting criminal activities and building partnership for the creation of safer communities have to be natural preoccupations of our youth.

We expect of our youth to be obsessed about their future and that of their country by investing in their education and making the best of opportunities to learn and improve their competencies. As they study and learn, they must also confront the challenges of transformation of these institutions of learning. Collectively, we need to condemn and uproot racism, sexism and xenophobia in our institutions of learning and transform them into true institutions of excellence and mentoring.

Programme Director, we take this opportunity to congratulate all the recipients of the Premier Youth Awards and wish all of them success for their endeavours. Our message to you is very clear that for each recognition, medal and honour you receive, you do so on behalf of thousands others who continue to make a differences they too share in your glory.

We once more: "Renew our pledge to Deepen Youth Participation in development through service."

Issued by: Office of the Premier, Free State Provincial Government
16 June 2007