Inkatha Freedom Party Statement By:
MS PATRICIA LEBENYA  MP
ACTING NATIONAL CHAIR OF THE IFP YOUTH BRIGADE

27 September 2007

The Inkatha Freedom Party is concerned by the latest report released by Statistics South Africa, which shows that the unemployment rate remained virtually unchanged in March 2007 at 25.5%, compared to 25.6% in March 2006. 

The IFP Youth Brigade would like to call on government to urgently tell the youth of South Africa what plans they have in place or strategies they are planning to put in place to bring down the high unemployment rate in this country. 

On the 16th of June 2007, thousands of Inkatha Youth Brigade members and supporters marched against youth unemployment in Johannesburg. It has been over three months now and we still haven't had any response to our memorandum we handed over at the Gauteng Legislature on that day.

The IFP Youth Brigade would therefore like to know the following from government: is unemployment an important issue to them or not? Or is it not important enough because we, the IFP, raised the issue?

The youth are the future of South Africa, but they will have no future without job opportunities. 

Furthermore, the National Youth Commission is an institution with a huge budget and a mandate to develop a comprehensive strategy to address the challenges facing young women and men in South Africa. What we would like to know is what have they done since their inception, 16 June 1996, to address the issue of youth unemployment? Or are they just one of government's white elephants? 

To the IFP Youth Brigade, the issue of unemployment is a very important issue that needs urgent attention from government. 

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Ms Patricia Lebenya MP: 078 186 3619
Liezl van der Merwe: 083 611 7470