16 June 2009

Acting IFPYB Chairperson Pat Lebenya-Ntanzi has called on government to prioritise youth development which remains one of the most complex challenges facing South Africa today.

Lebenya-Ntanzi said that it is young people who are most severely affected by negative socio-economic factors such as HIV / Aids, high levels of unemployment, poverty and the lack of participation in political and economic development processes.

"Today, many youths still face the same problems as the generation of 1976. Despite the fact that we have made great strides since achieving democracy, unemployment particularly among the youth remains a major concern," said Lebenya-Ntanzi.

Lebenya-Ntanzi said that after fifteen years of democracy, we still can't boast that a better life for all has been achieved. "Education is not up to scratch. During the apartheid era, school children were exposed to intimidation and violence by the police. Today, school children experience intimidation and violence in their own classrooms from their own teachers and classmates," she said.

Recently the Presidency launched the National Youth Development Agency. It is an open secret that this development was, among other things, due to the IFP which has over the decade raised a number of concerns about the incompetence of the erstwhile National Youth Commission and Umsobomvu Youth Fund.

The IFP believes that the importance and effectiveness of the Agency ultimately relies on youth organisations and government departments and their willingness to enforce youth centred policies and programmes.

"The message to the new Agency and its leadership is clear. To those young people in the rural areas and slums struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we must pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves," said Lebenya-Ntanzi.

The IFP believes that with courage and confidence we must pursue one goal -  that of ensuring that young people in our country participate as equal citizens in our economic and political processes. "It should be our main priority - that our youth are only judged by the content of their character not by the colour of their skin or political affiliation. This is our hope. This is the faith that young people and citizens have in the new Agency and its leadership. So they dare not fail," said Lebenya-Ntanzi.

Contact:
Pat Lebenya-Ntanzi      078 186 3619 or
Liezl van der Merwe      083 611 7470.