The party believes believes that empowering young people is not an option but a national imperative.
Youth Day on June 16 is a moment to reflect on the role played by young people in advancing national liberation and ultimately contributing towards the attainment of democracy in South Africa, the African National Congress said on Sunday.
”The generation of Anton Lembede, Nelson Mandela, Ashby Mda, Walter Sisulu, and Oliver Tambo, to name but a few, galvanised the youth to intensify the fight to defeat oppression,” the ANC said in a statement.
South Africa celebrates Youth Day, and Youth Month, by paying tribute to the youth activists of the June 16, 1976 Soweto uprising against the compulsory teaching of Afrikaans in schools. The protests spread to other areas and many young people died in the subsequent clashes with apartheid-era police.
In its statement on Sunday, the ANC said the party had emerged from its own recent lekgotla ”having pronounced on a three-shift economy to turn the tide against slow or contracting growth and unemployment”.
”This radical step is aimed at increasing national productivity and enhance the prospect of employment for the youth. Working together with labour and business, a three-shift system will result into an ‘economy that does not sleep’. Other initiatives to tackle youth unemployment include enterprise development, national youth service, and skills development.”
Government had put in place numerous policy interventions to bring young people into the mainstream of the economy as well as ensuring that issues affecting young people remained high on the list of the nation’s priorities.
”The ANC believes that empowering young people is not an option but a national imperative, and calls on young people to also seize the opportunities created by our democracy. While our achievements in empowering young people are worth celebrating, they must not lull us into complacency. We still have a long way to go.
”Far too many young people still find themselves marginalised from the economic mainstream because of unemployment and lack of skills. The best tribute we can pay to the different generations of courageous young activists and honour their memory is to ensure that we achieve economic freedom in our lifetime,” the ANC said.
You might also like…Amanda du-Pont’s Black wedding dress causes Confusion
Amanda du-Pont is always looking on point and rarely, if ever, has fans thinking that she made a fashion mistake. However, her black wedding outfit had them confused, wondering if it isn’t better suited to a funeral.
Actress and presenter, Amanda du-Pont, has a great fashion sense and is quite the inspiration for her fans. She normally looks absolutely fantastic and loves sharing snaps with her social media fans. see more pictures…
Source: African News Agency (ANA)
