National Youth Development Agency Amendment Bill: DWYPD briefing

Meeting report

The Acting Chairperson welcomed Members to the Committee Meeting, and took everyone through the meeting agenda.

Mr I Ntsube (ANC, Free State) moved the adoption of the agenda, and was seconded by Ms E Nkosi (ANC, Mpumalanga).

The Committee Secretary said an apology from the Minister had been received, due to the Legotla running late, but the Director-General (DG) would be in attendance.

The Acting Chairperson said that the Chairperson would be joining the meeting only at a later stage, as he had other pressing matters to attend to.

He called upon the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) to introduce themselves and begin their presentation.

Mr Emmanuel  Kganakga, Director: Youth Legislation and Policy, Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities (DWYPD), said he would lead the presentation. He explained that the DG was scheduled to make the opening remarks prior to the presentation, but as she was not yet in attendance, he asked if it would be appropriate to begin without her.

The Acting Chairperson expressed his discontent at the DG’s absence, as it was only the first meeting and no apologies had been received on her behalf. He asked who would be taking ownership of the presentation.

Mr Kganakga said he had been responsible for making the presentation to the Committee.

The Acting Chairperson allowed the Department to continue with the presentation.

Adv Mikateko Maluleke, DG, DWYPD, apologised for being nine minutes late, as her Cabinet meeting had run over time. She confirmed that Mr Kganakga would be taking over and conducting the presentation.  

National Youth Development Agency Amendment Bill

Mr Kganakga said the proposal to amend the Act was intended mainly to address challenges with the execution of its broad legislated mandate to intensify youth development service provision. Consultations had been held with cross-sectoral stakeholders in all spheres of government and the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC) constituencies. The need to amend the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) Act was based on various factors, such as;

• Ensuring alignment with the President’s pronouncement for the establishment of the DWYPD, as there had been a shift in the NYDA’s reporting line;
• Ensuring that the executive authority was the Minister responsible for youth development in the DWYPD, as delegated;
• Responding to the outcry from the public regarding the poor visibility of the NYDA, particularly in deep rural areas;
• Making the NYDA’s broad mandate more focused, given the resource constraints, to ensure better redirection of resources to areas where there was a greater need, and improved management of the public's expectations;
• Optimising service delivery so that the NYDA could focus on intensifying implementation to young people’s needs;
• Amending the objectives of the Agency to focus on initiating, designing and piloting socio-economic programmes and projects that empower the youth.

(Please see slides for further information) .

Discussion

Mr M Bara (DA, Gauteng) asked how the proposed amendments would ensure economic participation from the youth of South Africa. At this point, a large percentage of youth unemployment was plaguing the country. Regarding the young people in rural areas that were out of the NYDA’s reach, he asked whether the amendments would enhance the capacity of the NYDA to assist them as well. The Bill also mentioned responding to the outcries from the public about the poor visibility of the NYDA, so were there plans in place to ensure that rural areas were included and accessible to the NYDA?

The Chairperson said that being from a rural area himself, he had never heard of the NYDA within his home town. He had also asked young people from that same area if they had heard of the NYDA, and the majority had said no, as none of them had received any assistance from the organisation. However, this would be a matter tabled for the Committee's next meeting.

Mr I Ntsube (ANC, Free State) referred to the proposed amendments, which stated that the Bill provided for the development of a status of youth report every two years. He commented that initially, this was supposed to be every three years, rather than two. He sought clarity as to what factors had informed this change, rather than reviewing the report on an annual basis.

DWYPD's response

Ms Maluleke responded that there were no financial implications, as the chief executive officer (CEO) was already employed by the NYDA. However, the two representatives of the Minister were paid by government. She explained that the purpose of this was to ensure that everything within the official processes was coordinated correctly. When comparing the NYDA with other organisations, she said the budget was insufficient to extend their reach.

Mr Mr Kganakga said that the DG was correct in saying there would be no financial implications for the NYDA itself, due to the addition of three new board members. On the issue of the visibility of the NYDA, he said that the Bill would allow for them to continue expanding their footprint in rural areas. In recent years, the NYDA had been implementing this model using various means, such as technology,  to make contact with the youth. They could also go to municipal offices where the NYDA had set up a particular station to ensure that the organisation was accessible.

He said that the NYDA was currently assisting young people with their National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) applications, which was made possible with the help of other stakeholders. The NYDA held quarterly briefings with Parliament to discuss the work it had done and present on its annual performance plans. He added that the Select Committee also had the power to invite the NYDA to come and provide a brief presentation on some of the points mentioned in the meeting.

Regarding financial participation from the youth, he said that the economic transformation and job creation plans were outlined within section five of the Bill. In addition to this, it also speaks on the advisory roles that were used to assist the youth. It was important that the youth were constantly supported and that they were aware of the opportunities available to them. The inclusion of the youth within the economy was at the core of the NYDA’s mandate, which was made clear in the Bill.

Answering the question posed by Mr Ntsube on the status of youth report, he said that the reason why it was moved from three years to two was to ensure that the data gathered was not outdated.

The Chairperson thanked the officials for the presentation.

Committee minutes

The minutes of the meeting held on 1 December 2023 were moved for adoption by Ms Nkosi and seconded by Ms N Ndongeni (ANC, Eastern Cape).

The meeting was adjourned.