Pretoria - Deputy Minister in the Presidency Buti Manamela has urged staff at the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) to not become complacent when working with young people who are looking for job opportunities.
“You are dealing with the same problems and situations every day - a young person wanting a job, or grant, or scholarship, or career guidance or business development support services.
“You see these requests day in and day out. Your job can become repetitive and mundane,” said the Deputy Minister, who is responsible for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Youth Development and Administration.
He visited the offices of the NYDA on Thursday as part of National Imbizo Focus Week.
He urged the staff to see the person behind the request and not only the request.
“After all, youth development is about people, young people in particular … I urge you to guard against complacency no matter how routine your job gets. See the young people behind the request. Assist them to the best of your ability, even if the request is the same every day.
“Always remember that for these young people, it may be their only interaction with the NYDA. That interaction must matter to them and to you.”
Deputy Minister Manamela told staff it was important to remember why the NYDA was created - to advance seamless and integrated youth development.
“We wanted better coordination and management of youth development within the overall machinery of government. We wanted a more responsive youth development agency to the needs of young people. This was the purpose of creating the NYDA,” he said.
He said while the funding allocated to the NYDA was not sufficient for it to fulfil its mandate according to the NYDA Act, the agency, just like all other government departments and public entities, was being asked to do more with less.
The Deputy Minister applauded the NYDA for consistently setting higher targets and mostly achieving them, despite that it’s budget had over the years been reduced in real terms.
“I must commend the staff for their good efforts and performance. You are doing more with less and that is not an easy task. But you have taken this in your stride.”
He urged staff to work even harder and surpass the targets for 2015/16 as contained in the Annual Performance Plan. – SAnews.gov.za
