Challenges remain for SA youth

2008-06-16 14:43

Johannesburg - Great challenges for the youth remain - and just like the young lions of 1976, young people in SA face an uncertain future, DA leader Helen Zille said on Monday.

Zille was speaking at a Youth Day event in Mitchells Plain near Cape Town.

She pointed out that two out of every five South Africans did not have a job and up to 70% of young people were unemployed.

She added that the country's education system was failing to prepare children for the future. "The matric pass rate is declining; we are behind countries like Zimbabwe, Indonesia and Morocco in global studies of education quality," she said.

Zille added that SA had the highest HIV/Aids infection rate in the world - one out of every four young sexually active South Africans had HIV.

She said 120 000 children lived in child-headed households as a result of losing their parents to HIV/Aids.

Rampant crime fuelled by drugs and gangsterism affected everybody, but it was the youth who suffered most.

"Here on the Cape Flats, 150 000 young people are involved in gangs; children as young as eleven can be found selling their bodies on the streets to buy tik."

Zille said that all these factors entitled the youth to be angry.

"Angry, because the government does not have the will or the ideas to tackle these problems. "Angry because so many people believe it is only the government's responsibility to solve the problems we all should be taking responsibility for.

"Angry, because the promise of 'a better life for all' rings more hollow with each passing election campaign.

"Angry, because it is your future that is at stake.

"Angry, because so many people, including young people, are so apathetic they do not even bother to register to vote," Zille said.

She went on to say that the youth should examine its options.

Clearly, attitudes had to change.

"We are not helpless victims of circumstance. No matter how tough life gets, we always have choices.

"You can choose to say no to drugs and alcohol and gangsterism.

"You can say yes to safe sex. You can say yes to school and an education."

Zille urged the youth to become involved.

"Democracy can only succeed when everyone, especially young people, participate.

The DA's vision of society was one in which every South African was free to pursue their own dreams and ambitions.

"It is a society in which every person is given a fair opportunity to make a success of their life," Zille said.

- SAPA