The idea of a youth parliament was first mooted by the ANCYL last year. This month it is to become a reality
Evidence wa ka Ngobeni
On June 26 seats often occupied by members of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces will be filled by hundreds of South African youth leaders to assess the government’s pace on youth development.
This initiative, which forms part of the National Youth Commission (NYC) programme for the 25th anniversary of the Soweto uprising, was first put forward to the government last year by the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL).
The ANCYL said last year the government was backing the project but noted that implementation was still some way off due to financial constraints.
The NYC says it will fund the youth parliament from its budget but warns that the funding is insufficient.
NYC representative Monde Mkalipi said his organisation is lobbying private donors and Parliament to fund the youth parliament. Mkalapi said the NYC has been interacting with Parliament’s joint committee on children, youth and people with disabilities with the view to securing funding for the youth parliament.
Although the youth parliament will not pass laws it will serve as a platform for various government ministers to account to youth structures and their leaders on what they have done to create jobs and improve life for young people in South Africa.
The youth parliament will also provide youth organisations with opportunities to ask ministers and government officials questions and then debate the issues relating to youth.
At the moment youth participation in Parliament is confined to the deployment of youth leaders by a number of political parties. The ANCYL has members representing the youth in different parliamentary proceedings.
Last year the ANCYL also called for the government to issue an annual report on government delivery regarding youth development.
The ANCYL claims that many government departments have not made youth development an integral part of their programmes, hence many issues such as youth unemployment, access to quality education and HIV/Aids continue to hit the country’s youth hard.
The league said last year the youth parliament will not become “another talk show. It must have a bearing and influence attempts and programmes aimed at developing the youth.”
Meanwhile, speech-making politicians and music groups will compete for attention in Soweto at this weekend’s commemoration of the Soweto uprising. Racism and a national youth service are firmly on the Youth Day agenda.
President Thabo Mbeki and heroes and heroines of the 1976 uprising will lead a march from Morris Isaacson High School to the Hector Petersen Memorial under the banner “Retracing the Footsteps of Our Forebears”.
Mbeki, who will lay a wreath at the Hector Petersen Memorial, will deliver the keynote speech at Orlando Stadium, which will be followed by a cultural programme featuring kwaito artists Mandoza, Lebo Mathosa, Joe Nina, Gheto Fabulous and Ishmael.
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