Sihlalo namalungu ahloniphekileyo, ndibulela ithuba lokuba ndibe ngomnye wabachongiweyo ukuza kuthetha apha namhlanje, xa sikhumbula indima eyabanjwa lulutsha lowe-1976. Namhlanje sikhumbula amagorha namagorhakazi athi anikela ngempilo yawo ukuze mna nawe singcamle le nkululeko siyingcamlayo namhlanje.
Namhlanje yiminyaka engama-32 esi siganeko senzekayo. Sihlangene namhlanje sikhumbula amadoda neentokazi ezathabatha isigqibo sokuba aziyi kuphinda siphile ngaphantsi kwengcinezelo, kwaye azisoze zavumela impilo yezizukulwana ezilandelayo idotyolelwe phantsi lucalu-calulo.
Ulutsha lowama-'76 lwalusazi mhlophe ukuba lunoxanduva lokuzakhela ikamva. Zazininzi izinto ababengazenza njengolutsha, kodwa bakhetha ukulwa nengcinezelo ukuze kwakhiwe isizwe esikhululekileyo nesingacaluliyo ngokwebala. Kungenxa yesibindi nentshisekelo yala maqhawe ukuze sibe namhlanje siphila kwisizwe esikhululekileyo.
Xa namhlanje sikhumbula la maqhawe, kubalulekile ukuba sikhe sibheke apho siphuma khona ukuze sikwazi ukuhlahla indlela eya phambili. Siphuma kwixesha apho iimfuno zolutsha zazingahoywanga ngurhulumente wocalu-calulo, apho ulutsha lwaluthathwa njengezaphuselane ezingenakamva. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)
[Ms N N SIBHIDLA: Chairperson and hon members, let me thank you for this opportunity I have been given to make a presentation here today, when we remember the role played by the youth of 1976. Today we remember heroes and heroines who sacrificed their lives to bring about the freedom that we have today.
It is now 32 years since this event took place. We have gathered here today to remember young men and women who took a decision that they would never remain under oppression, and would not allow the lives of the next generation to be oppressed by the apartheid regime either.
The youth of 1976 knew exactly what their responsibility was to build their future. There were many things that the youth could have done, but they decided to fight against oppression so that they could build a free country which did not discriminate in terms of colour. It is because of the courage and zeal of those heroes that we live in a free country today.
When we remember those heroes today, it is important that we consider our past, in order to be able to move forward. We come from the days where the interests of the youth were not being considered by the apartheid regime. The youth were regarded as hooligans who had no future.]
Yingakho sizithola sikulezi zinkinga esikuzo namuhla uma sikhuluma ngentuthuko yabantu abasha. [That is why we find ourselves in the situation that we are facing today when we talk about youth development.]
The year of 1994 and the freedom it ushered in was not a miracle, as some have alleged, but the culmination of years of a difficult struggle by the people of our country for whom many paid the ultimate price when their lives were brutally cut short by the apartheid regime.
Freedom comes with responsibility. It is for this reason that, despite the difficulties we faced as a people in confronting decades of systematic marginalisation, we - unlike some destroyers and pessimists - have not lost faith in the ability of the African to not only earn his or her freedom, but also to make use of it to realise economic empowerment.
Decades ago our people gathered to establish an historic movement of the African people to act as their rallying point and platform from which to transform the country, so that it becomes a home to all who live in it; and that the rights of citizenship are not skewed to serve the interests of the few.
Since 1994 the ANC government has established institutions that would consolidate this freedom and reverse the effects of institutional discrimination. Accordingly, various pieces of legislation have been passed and various institutions have been established.
As we celebrate Youth Month, we celebrate an organised, systematic articulation of the challenges faced by our people over time and how best to resolve those challenges. Over time, even those who were indifferent to the ideals of the Freedom Charter today agree that this remains the noblest document to have ever emerged during the dark days of political oppression.
In essence, what the Freedom Charter stood for was to ensure that all our people, irrespective of race or gender, live in dignity and this is further articulated in the Constitution of the Republic.
However, some have used the poverty of our people as an injunction against the ANC government and have attempted to make a lie out of the truth that decades of marginalisation have not only created poverty but, indeed, have also distorted the economy along racial lines, so that the poverty problems are self-perpetuating. This lie, at its highest stage, seeks to mobilise our people, and our youth in particular, against the ANC-led transformation agenda and to defeat our revolution by blaming the ANC government for the legacy of apartheid.
Having understood the epoch of our political freedom, we have never promised our people an easy victory. We have noted that those who stand to lose from transformation have spread all sorts of lies in order to undermine this very transformation agenda; their primary aim being to preserve the ill-gained apartheid wealth disparities.
We know too well that it will take a lot of effort to reverse the effects of decades of apartheid misrule and usher in a social, economic and political dispensation as explained by the Freedom Charter.
While we note the socioeconomic circumstances around which crime and HIV occur amongst the South African population, we have always insisted that the main challenge of our people, and that of the youth in particular, is to ensure their economic participation through job creation and entrepreneurship schemes.
The National Youth Policy Review Convention held in 2006 acknowledged the reality of the past and the challenges of the future and accordingly made various resolutions that explained this and further showed the way forward. This National Youth Convention is a confirmation that our youth are very much politically conscious and are ready to continue playing their critical role in ensuring that the opportunities of democracy make economic sense to all our people.
We believe that the resolve to implement an integrated youth development strategy will assist to clarify, once and for all, how the various efforts to develop our youth may find synergy and ensure effective redress of their general marginalisation. This, in itself, will go a long way towards realising the ideals of the Freedom Charter. The ANC conference reaffirmed the view of the young people that we need to move with speed to establish a structure that will be empowered to implement this integrated strategy - the National Youth Development Agency.
Lolu hlelo Somlomo luzana ukuhlanganisa zonke izinhlaka zikahulumeni ukuze sikwazi ukubhekana ngqo nezidingo zentsha, okungaba yizidingo eziqondene nezemfundo, eziqondene nokubamba iqhaza ekuthuthukisweni kwezomnotho, impilo yabantu ngokubanzi. Ngakho-ke sinxusa uhulumeni nehhovisi likaMongameli ukuthi benze isiqinisekiso sokuthi lo nyaka awupheli singakhiwanga isikhungo esisha esiyobizwa ngokuthi yi-National Youth Development Agency.
Kumele kubuyekezwe uhlelo olubizwa ngokuthi yi-National Youth Service Programme. Lolu hlelo Sihlalo lwalakhelwe ukuthi silekelele isizwe ekubumbeni izimilo zentsha, kuqeqeshwe intsha emakhonweni ahlukene luphinde luvulele intsha amathuba emisebenzi. Esikubona kwenzeka njengamanje Sihlalo kwehluke kakhulu kulokhu lolu hlelo olwalakhelwe khona.
Ngakho-ke sinxusa Ihhovisi lePhini likaMongameli wezwe ukuthi lihlale phansi nazo zonke izakhiwo ezibhekele ukuthi kuqalwe ngalolu hlelo ukwenzela ukuthi sibone ukuthi singabuyela kanjani ezinjongweni ezazakhelwe lona lolu hlelo. Ziningi ezinye izinhlelo uhulumeni wethu athe wazakha ekubhekaneni ngqo nezidingo zentsha. Ngiyabonga Sihlalo. [Kwaphela isikhathi.] [Ihlombe.] (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows.)
[Chairperson, this programme seeks to integrate all government structures so that we are able to deal with the needs of the youth directly, whether they be needs related to education, needs related to participating in economic development, or issues related to the people at large. We therefore urge government and the office of the President to ensure that this year does not come to an end without the new agency, that will be called the National Youth Development Agency, having been built.
There is a need to review the National Youth Service Programme. This programme, Chairperson, was started with the intention of helping the nation in moulding the behaviour of the youth, training the youth in different skills as well as creating employment opportunities for the youth. But what we now see happening, Chairperson, is very different from what this programme was initially set up for.
Therefore, we urge the Office of the Deputy President to sit down with all the stakeholders involved in implementing this programme so that we can see how we can go back to the objectives of setting up this programme. There are many other programmes that our government has come up with in order to directly address the needs of the youth. Thank you, Chairperson. [Time expired.][Applause.]]