They addressed the media over the weekend after their executive committee meeting.
The South African Youth Council (SAYC) in the Mpumalanga province has come to the defence of the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), saying the agency should not be blamed as its budget is “too small”.
After meeting for its provincial executive committee in eMalahleni over the weekend, the youth body says ” it’s an insult” to expect the NYDA to function with the current budget of “less than R400 million”.
“That is too small,” SAYC chairman Sam Masango told the media in Klipfontein on Sunday afternoon.
“Even if South Africans wanted NYDA to change the lives of the youths in the country it’s impossible,” Masango said.
“You cannot say that on a less than R400 million you think NYDA will cater for the 63% of young people and as government you accept it. It’s an insult. An utter insult to the youth,” said Masango.
He addressed the media together with spokesman Army Mashaba and secretary Muziwakhe Thabethe.
They said as the youth council they will no longer “bury [their] heads in the sands” and will definitely organise the youths across the province by forming branches everywhere.
“Now as a council we have a responsibility to relocate ourselves or reposition our thinking because it is only us who can liberate ourselves from this current crisis.
“That is why when you wake up in the morning you find people creating new structures and say they represent young people while we as SAYC are existing and we have been existing since 1997,” he said.
He said they are tired of summits – that when they demand practical actions in dealing with the youth unemployment crisis government leaders “come and say, ‘look, we will convene a summit. We don’t want a summit. We are now allergic to summits,” he said.
“As a council, practical action is our fundamental interest. We are at a time when we are no longer going to listen to any political statement as young people because they force us to keep being listeners. No. The matter is such serious that we will no longer listen,” said Masango.
He said unemployment is so bad that it deprives young people of marriage opportunities “because if you are unemployed you can never get marriage and that’s how serious this cancer is. It must be treated very urgently,” he said.
(edited by MLM)
Send tips to editor@013.co.za
 in the Mpumalanga province has come to the defence of the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), saying the agency should not be blamed as its budget is "too small".){kind=link}