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11 July 2008

Office of the Premier, Nobengula Extention
Programme director
MEC for Education, Gomolemo Lucas
MEC for Transport, Roads and Public Works, Kagisho Molusi
Chairperson of the Northern Cape Youth Commission, Garrith Bezuidenhoudt
Group Marketing Director of Ifihlile, Ms Ria Ledwaba
Managing Director of Ifihlile Group, Mr Mpho Mashiane
Member of the media
Ladies and gentlemen

Welcome to all of you.

On the occasion of the State of the Province Address in February this year, I committed the Northern Cape Provincial Government to a partnership with the Ifihlile Training Academy in a programme that would see the training and development of 300 young women and men in the air-conditioning industry.

Today we are assembled here in this manner to see our provincial government make good on that commitment.

During the launch of the Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA), Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said and I quote:

"Nothing short of a skills revolution by a nation united will extricate us from the crisis we face. The systemic nature of some of our challenges undermines our excellent new policies".

She went further to say, "Our quest to be a competitive economy and a winning nation depends on us equipping ourselves appropriately."

Through our actions here today, we therefore, and in a very practical manner, respond to the calls made by the Deputy President of the Republic. The Northern Cape Provincial Government continues to value our youth as an important part of our population, and in doing so, we strive to create an enabling environment in which our youth realise their full potential and contribute towards the consolidation of a caring society.

The Youth in Heating, Ventilation and Air-conditioning Training Programme will see 300 young people trained in both theory and practice in the fields of refrigeration air-conditioning and ventilation, electrical and construction. We are entering into a partnership with the Ifihlile Training Academy, a company that has developed considerable experience in its field of operation, and that has endeavoured to ensure that their success is shared with the youth of our country.

It is our wish that more private sector stakeholders would have the same vision and dedication to the development agenda of the province. This partnership is an example of the type of collaboration that contributes to the reconstruction of our country. We call on the private sector to follow this example, and to work with the Northern Cape Youth Commission in pursuit of comprehensive and sustainable youth development.

We have committed R39 million over the next three years to this programme, and this in itself is a demonstration of the value that we attach to the development of our youth, and indeed the confidence that we have in their future potential. It is our expectation that this programme must be successful and must have clear strategies to ensure access to economic opportunities for the youth that are going to be trained and developed.

We repeat what we have said in the past, which is that, today is better then yesterday and that tomorrow will be better than today.

I am sure all of us here would agree that we live in a Northern Cape and South Africa that is indeed, "alive with possibilities."

We similarly call on the youth of our province to seize the opportunities that our hard earned democracy has brought and to, like Frantz Fanon said, to define their own destiny, and work towards its fulfilment.

Thank you.

Issued by: Office of the Premier, Northern Cape Provincial Government
11 July 2008
Source: Northern Cape Provincial Government http://www.northern-cape.gov.za/