Youth month is a period where the country reflects on the
strides made in the struggle for the emancipation of the
country’s youth. For the year 2023 cabinet has emphasized
on the need for accelerated economic emancipation of the youth,
for a sustainable future. It is in this spirit that we look at some of the
challenges facing the youth today, as we prepare them to lead the
country in the future.
In the education sector we have made strides in getting
more young people receive qualifications that would improve their
employment opportunities. A steady improvement in matric pass
rates over the past three years bears witness to this.
However, the reality is that the tertiary institutions
in the province would not be able to absorb all those
who pass matric each year. It is in this vein that we
also encourage young people to also pursue other
areas of training such a learnerships, vocational work
and entrepreneurship opportunities.
The largely rural setting of the Eastern Cape
province presents young people in remote areas
with key challenges in accessing urban centres
where they can find employment opportunities or
facilities that would assist them when applying to
job opportunities. The cost of travel to the urban
centres is also a challenge for many. Government is
committed to bringing services closer to the people,
hence the continued roll out of shared service centres
in municipalities across the provinces. We believe
these would go a long way to assist young people
to access government services, as well as related
employment opportunities.
The high cost of internet access has played a
big role in holding back young people from accessing
information that would change their future. Past
campaigns on reducing the cost of data has seen
little movement by the giant mobile operators. This
calls for more intervention by the communications
industry regulator, ICASA, as well as Competition
Commission to change the status quo. The youth of
this country need to be able to connect to the rest of
the world at reasonable rates, to access opportunities
for their economic emancipation.
Government has noted an increase in HIV
infection amongst young people, rolling back gains
made in the past on HIV awareness programs, which
encouraged the use of condoms and abstinence. This
called for renewed efforts between young people,
parents, government, the private sector and non
governmental organisations which have played a big
role in HIV education in the past. Continued efforts
to roll out ARVs at public health facilities, more
recently the work on pre-exposure treatment (PREP)
will greatly benefit efforts to manage the spread of
HIV amongst the youth.
In the spirit of the youth of 1976, as we move
towards the general elections in 2024, this period
calls for greater political activism amongst the youth.
Young people should be encouraged to be more
active in community structures, political movements
and other spheres of their lives. A politically aware
youth will take South Africa to a greater future
not only in domestic politics but on international
stages as well. The global political climate requires a
politically astute leadership of the future. We need
more engagement by the youth on current political
issues of the continent, the north vs southern
hemisphere politics and their impact on South
Africa. The upcoming BRICS Summit in August, the
ongoing conflict in Mozambique and the resurgent
war in the Sudan are some of the international
political issues we should be hearing more from
young people on.
