Eersterust – Lack of information and recreational facilities for young people took centre stage when Deputy Minister in the Presidency, Buti Manamela, met with youth formations in Eersterust, east of Pretoria.
Deputy Minister Manamela met with the youth leaders on Tuesday to get first-hand experience about the challenges facing young people in the area.
While acknowledging and appreciating government’s programmes, the youth raised concerns about the lack of information which lead to them missing out on opportunities like employment.
“The Tshwane Metro is doing a wonderful job regarding government’s programmes, but the problem is lack of information,” young people told the Deputy Minister.
Other youth, who are involved in various activities aimed at keeping young people away from drug abuse, complained about the lack of space and pleaded with the Deputy Minister to open up spaces for recreation and equip the youth with appropriate skills.
The community of Eersterust is facing a huge challenge of drug addiction and drug lords who operate in the community and cause a number of social ills to the detriment of young people.
While admitting that drug abuse is a major problem in the area, young people told Deputy Minister Manamela that most drug dealers are ex-convicts, who due to the lack of recreational facilities go back to drug dealing, despite being rehabilitated while inside the prison.
“Sixty percent of drug dealers are ex-offenders,” the youth highlighted.
The Deputy Minister assured the youth that all concerns raised in the meeting were taken into consideration and interventions would be forthcoming.
“Part of our responsibility is to ensure that we follow all these concerns raised. Many of these like information gaps, absence of engagement and communications, don’t require us to move mountains. We may think or assume that they are impossible to do, but they are actually doable,” says the Deputy Minister.
He also noted that the partnership between the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) and the Tshwane Metro on the issue of operational space for the local youth office will be a catalyst for a whole range of other things that need to happen.
NYDA Chairperson Yershen Pillay, who was also part of the meeting, admitted that the agency has not done enough for the youth in Eersterust.
“Among the interventions, we need to bring services to the people like job preparedness for the youth. We need to put more young people into sports so that they don’t do drugs. Let’s keep building the bridge,” said Pillay.
He also announced that the NYDA will host a Mini Jobs for Youth Summit, where young people would be trained on how to prepare for a job.
President Jacob Zuma is also expected to visit the community. – SAnews.gov.za
