Chairperson, the recognition and appreciation of what happened in the past and atrocities that were committed by one racial group seeking to dominate the other, is an important cornerstone of national reconciliation in South Africa. Therefore, it is a history and a past that we cannot relegate to some textbook and not even talk about.
So, hon Ollis, 16 June in particular represents the day when young people took to the streets and sacrificed their lives against the high and mighty apartheid regime. It is something that we will continue to celebrate. [Applause.]
Anele spoke about a youth dream deferred. As she said that phrase, it reminded me of a book called The Dream Deferred written by Mervin Gumede about Thabo Mbeki. It is important, when you plagiarise, to acknowledge your sources.
The other point that was raised by hon Mda is that democracy is a misery. It is unfortunate that a young South African woman of your age is able to stand in the fourth democratic Parliament of South Africa and say that we need to scrap the Expanded Public Works Programme and we need to scrap the National Youth Service Programme and replace it with what is called the Young Cadets, which is an old Bantustan and apartheid government form of indoctrination. [Applause.] It used to be done and is called compulsory military conscription. In the Bantustans they used to call them cadets. It was a tool for indoctrination. I am surprised that a young woman of your calibre is saying that we need to reintroduce those oppressive programmes.
On the day of his execution in 1979 when he was making his last statement before the judge, Solomon Mahlangu said:
Mama, tell my people I love them and they must continue to struggle. My blood will nourish the trees of liberty and freedom.
In exactly six days from today millions of people within and outside the borders of our country will commemorate 16 June and the connected uprisings. This historic moment in the history of our liberation struggle marks the resilience of our youth who laid down their lives in defiance of a regressive government whose order was to confine the majority to the margins of the labour market through inferior education and ultimately exclude them from the mainstream economy.
Chairperson, I would like to request to put my notes in front of me. As you can see, I am a special type of white man. I did not eat enough carrots. [Laughter.]
In the current political epoch we call on the youth of our country to draw inspiration and emulate the 1976 generations and the likes of Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu, who laid down their lives for democracy and the freedom we have today. Indeed, some of these generations live amongst us today and they resemble the battle cry for freedom in our lifetime, which the 44 generations of the Sisulus and Mandelas committed itself to.
The youth of this generation have demonstrated against all odds their commitment to deepening democracy and defending the gains of our revolution. Millions of ordinary South Africans from the length and breadth of our country cast their votes on 22 April. However, there are two interesting things about 22 April: Firstly, the majority of our people, unlike what many spectators and speculators had wished, demonstrated an overwhelming confidence in their glorious organisation, the ANC.
Secondly, this election became a true celebration of the youths' voices, as multitudes of young people made their mark in the polls and recorded an unprecedented youth voter turnout since the inception of democracy in South Africa. It is important, Anele, that we note that the youth of this generation will not, because of the democratic rule we acquired in 1994, behave similarly to the '76 generation. Indeed they will demonstrate their willingness and commitment to defend this democracy through their electoral power. [Applause.] These youths voted in large numbers, because they celebrated a number of successes over the past years. Amongst those is that some sections of the National Youth Development Agency Act came into effect, ushering in a new and cohesive development agency, whose first key intervention was the implementation of the National Youth Service Programme in various areas such as creation of decent work and sustainable livelihoods.
Our youth continue to be ravaged by unemployment and lack of participation in the economy. The call for the one company, one learnership programme, to ensure that there is greater experience acquired by our young people, continues. A further call made by the President in his state of the nation address on the creation of 500 000 jobs is a programme also geared towards the empowerment of these young people, ensuring greater access to basic and higher education through compulsory and free education and through the review of various funding models, as done by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, to ensure that we avoid the consistent exclusion of university students.
If the Young Communist League makes a clarion call based on observation; If I, as a young South African person, am sitting somewhere and I am told that a vice-chancellor excluded 20 000 black students from enrolling in a university, I will get worried. It is a point to get worried about and it is important that civil society organisations and political youth formations in the country begin to speak on those issues. Unfortunately, those who do not have organisations to speak on these issues will not have the platform to do so. Those who do, will continue to engage on this.
It is also about ensuring healthy, positive lifestyles for our youth and constant education on the HIV/Aids pandemic. The problem is, when I mispronounce it, is not because I cannot read English properly, but because of my poor eyesight. Be sensitive, please.
It is also necessary to instil a belief that a hub, a robot, a clinic and a multipurpose community centre in Soweto is just as much needed in rural Kganyisa or any other part of our country. We need equal development opportunities in all our areas, despite whether they are rural, urban or otherwise.
We further need to respond to the call made by the Minister of Police, Minister Mthethwa, for a roll-out and maximum participation of youth against crime and corruption. It is true that this programme will further add to the continued effort for moral renewal and the Reconstruction and Development Programme, RDP, of the soul. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
Debate concluded.