Hon Chairperson, hon Ministers Patel and Davies, hon Deputy Ministers, hon members, directors-general, staff and distinguished guests, after what has just been said I am tempted to quote Martin Luther King, whose words were repeated by one of the former leaders of the ANC, Mr O R Tambo, when he addressed progressive South Africans in 1985:
Every (person) must decide whether he (or she) will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness. This is the judgment. Life's most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?
The ANC has always viewed young people as the most important stratum in society. As such, it has sought to ensure that they are fully integrated into society as agents of change. That is why young people are regarded as being critical within the motive forces of the national democratic revolution, NDR, in the thorough and ongoing process of resolving the contradictions that have been created by the system of colonialism and apartheid. This means that young people have an objective interest in driving the NDR towards its logical conclusion. As active agents of change and social transformation, they stand to benefit from the fundamental transformation of society.
Following the capturing of political power in 1994, the ANC started operationalising its policy commitments through the setting up of institutions for youth development. Currently, the ANC remains committed to ensuring that South Africans have the best institutional vehicle for integrated youth development to ensure the effective implementation of youth development policies and programmes.
While it emphasises its commitment to the youth and youth development, the ANC's policy paradigm on youth development also places obligations on young people. In particular, it requires young people to work for reconciliation and promote a common South African identity; to participate actively in the political, social and economic life of the country; to combat discrimination and racism; to promote democratic values; to acquire skills; and to play a productive role in the economic reconstruction and development of the economy.
The New Growth Path calls on the state to provide a bold, imaginative and effective strategy and to create the millions of new jobs that the South African economy needs. This requires a combination of initiatives of direct state involvement, private sector partnership and mobilisation of civil society to take a proactive interest in addressing the problems presented by unemployment.
Policy options to support youth employment will provide an additional lever for government to create jobs and will not be limited to any particular sector. In certain sectors the New Growth Path already identifies opportunities for youth. These include identifying employment and entrepreneurial opportunities for the youth.
Our economy can create employment through large-scale expansion in infrastructure, mining, agriculture, construction, rural development and African regional development, as well as in the "new economy" areas, such as the green economy and knowledge-based sectors, and through the social economy and the public sector. The state, private capital, co-operatives and other forms of social ownership can and must complement each other in an integrated way to direct and transform economic growth in order to bring about greater equity, based above all on drawing the unemployed youth into the economic mainstream.
The ANC-led government and our social partners recently signed the National Skills Accord as one of the first outcomes of social dialogue on the New Growth Path. The parties involved have identified eight commitments and key areas from which the youth can benefit as far as their employability is concerned. I will mention a few: setting annual targets for training in state-owned enterprises; expanding the level of training, using existing facilities more fully; and improving the role and performance of further education and training colleges.
Training programmes are intended to alleviate skills shortages in the economy. They are aimed at enhancing the productivity and employability of participants and enhancing human capital through improving skills - in this case, for young job seekers - while simultaneously fulfilling the needs demanded by the economy.
Young people with high levels of education - graduates - accounted for only 3% of the unemployed. However, despite the low unemployment rate of those with higher levels of education, there are indications that this group's unemployment rate is increasing very fast. It is also important to state that the output from institutions of higher education is biased towards the areas of study that do not prepare graduates for professional jobs. As a result they have low labour market prospects. Trends in the labour market for graduates indicate that those who have qualifications that prepare them for professional jobs, like engineering and medicine, have good labour market prospects. They find employment quickly and in high numbers. This is in contrast to those qualifications that are general, as in the humanities and arts, where, for a significant majority, the unemployment experience tends to be longer.
The youth must be mainstreamed in all existing core strategies, policies and programmes in the three spheres of government and agencies. However, in this process young people should be considered as beneficiaries and agents of economic change, and not as passive recipients of government services.
We must endorse the sentiments of the former president of the ANC, Oliver Tambo: "A nation that does not take care of its youth has no future and does not deserve one." In the spirit of recognising the sacrifices by the young people of our country and of the role played by our youth in establishing a South Africa that is politically liberated and democratic, we can and must create the circumstances and an enabling environment in which the lives, work and prosperity of young people are placed at the centre of the country's growth and development.
Our vision should be a South Africa that has an economically empowered and well-developed youth that is supported by all stakeholders and is operating in all sectors of our economy. It must have young people who contribute to economic growth, poverty reduction and employment creation, as well as assisting in bringing about economic transformation and an equitable society.
The creative energies of young South Africans can be turned into one of the country's greatest assets and a source of growth and prosperity. The ANC supports Budget Votes 36 and 28. [Applause.]