Port Elizabeth - Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale has, just days before Youth Day, called on young people to make positive changes in their communities by volunteering their services.
"We emphasis this thing of volunteerism because this is the month when young people took to the streets and took matters into their own hands to better the lives of South Africans - they never sat back," Sexwale told scores of young people in the Eastern Cape on Thursday.
He was speaking during the handing over of new houses built by youngsters in the farming community of Kirkwood, outside Port Elizabeth.
The houses were built by a group of youngsters as part of the National Youth Development Agency's (NYDA) "youth-build" programme that encourages young people to participate in community development through the construction of houses.
The 36 houses are part of the 36th anniversary of the June 16 Youth Day commemorations. The agency said each house was subsidised through sponsorships to the value of R79 812.78 which included all the building material.
Sexwale said there was often a misconception among the youth of today that voluntary work was mainly for old people and the unemployed. He found it strange that many young people refused to do voluntary work even if it would equip them with skills.
"This the month of youth we remember a painful year 1976, but what we need to encourage in today's youth is that despite the challenges, they can still do things to better people's lives, things like what these youngsters here have done," said Sexwale.
Government will commemorate this year's Youth Day at Wolfson Stadium in Kwazakhele, Port Elizabeth on Saturday. On the same day, Port Elizabeth will host the Exhibitions Galore Youth Fair. The exhibition will focus on jobs for the youth and the opportunities available to them in different sectors of society.
Sexwale hailed the 150 youngsters who were involved in the construction of the houses, describing them as an inspiration to the nation and the heroes of 1976.
His department and the NYDA would spread the initiative to other provinces to encourage more youngsters to be involved in the programme.
Among the beneficiaries was 75-year-old gogo Nongazelo Maqhabase, who had been sharing a small shack with her three grandchildren for many years.
She said: "I do not have words to describe how I feel, I never thought I would one day own a decent house of my own. I am a happy person today, I express my gratitude to all those who were involved in the building of the house."
Sexwale said government was currently busy with more than 8000 human settlements projects across the country. A total of 10 000 houses were being built in Lephalale and 50 000 in KwaZulu-Natal and 35 000 in the south of Johannesburg.
"So we are building human settlements all over the country and by doing so we are not just putting a roof over people's heads but we are creating jobs for the youth because construction is a skill, we are providing skills, educations and knowledge."
Government has plans to enable young people to develop themselves and events like national Youth Day should be used to communicate them to the country's young people, he said.
NYDA CEO Steven Ngobeni said the agency was impressed by the interest it had attracted from young people, considering that construction was viewed as "a sector for the unskilled".
He said young people had a role to play in South Africa and that role should not to be downplayed by anything including unemployment.
"As young people we are making a statement that were are also present in construction and we need that skill to be further strengthened in us. As young people we refuse to let our challenges stand in the way of us seeing progress both for ourselves and our communities," Ngobeni said.
Deputy Minister in the Presidency for Performance Monitoring and Evaluation Obed Bapela decried the fact that more than 50 percent of South Africa's unemployed youth were under the age of 35.
He blamed a lack of skills and a high dropout rate at schools as contributing to the country's youth unemployment.
"In 1991, we enrolled more than 1.5 million but only 500 000 reached matric. We cannot pride ourselves over that, we have to change focus and the way we do things," said Bapela.
He said the Presidency would be requesting all ministers to produce report "on what they have done for the youth".
"We will be requesting them to give us reports on what is it that they have done in job creation and youth development since we established youth directorates in all departments".
