National service still on cards

2010-07-29 23:10

Cape Town - Defence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu on Thursday said her proposal for voluntary national service for the youth was still on the cards, but would be limited to a period of six months or a year.

"We have put in place two task teams that will report to me and I will report to Cabinet," she told reporters in Cape Town.

"We have eminent scholars discussing a policy framework on one of the teams", she added.

The second was dealing with the technical and administrative aspects of introducing national service as a way of tackling massive youth unemployment.

Sisulu said given the fact that some five million young South Africans did not have work, the length of service would have to be relatively short.

"We are hoping it will be restricted to one year. With up to five million young people unemployed we cannot prolong it. Maybe six months."

The idea was to help young people receive experience that would put them in a better position to find work, and the Sector Education Training Authorities might be enlisted in this regard.

Sisulu ruled out paying young conscripts, but said she would like to see them receive "a stipend".

Other government departments, including education, co-operative governance and land reform and rural development, have been called in to help fine-tune the proposal, the minister said.

- SAPA