
The temporary structure says they also want to get the NYDA to wake up from its slumber and commit to meaningful youth economic development.
A task team established to launch a South African Youth Council structure in the eMalahleni sub-region says the whole aim is to get the numerous companies operating in the area to account for youth empowerment.
Called SAYC task team or STT, the 6-members team was launched on 29 August 2018 and wants the youth to be organised in how they tackle their own poverty, unemployment and inequalities.
Scriber Thobile Nhlapho said they were concerned that eMalahleni was the province’s economic hub yet the people of the area languish in poverty with the youth having resorted to smoking Nyaope and other dangerous substances because they are not getting any help from anyone.
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She said it was shocking that the area was so rich in terms of what the mines contribute to its GDP but don’t even have a single drug rehabilitation centre.
“Youth recreational centres are falling apart. Look at the tennis court in the area, it’s no longer there basically. But the mines are here.
“We have a problem of two or three people being made filthy rich by the same mining companies and leaving a whole lot of people to languish in poverty. That is what SAYC will have to address, the time for that is now,” he said.
She said SAYC is formed by people who come from different youth formations, such as DA Youth, ANCYL, YCL, Cosas and non-profit youth organisations as well as church associations.
“The war we are faced with of fighting our own poverty and economic exclusion demands that we organise ourselves as young people. We can’t just be scattered all over the place without an agenda of how we plan to fight for inclusive participation in our own economy,” Nhlapho said.
They say they are preparing to launch the structure in two or three weeks’ time and will make formal communications on it.
“Also the National Youth Development Agency they have an office here in eMalahleni, we want to see what they are doing in bringing about meaningful change to the lives of the poor,” she said.
(edited by MLM)
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