How the NDP can give young South Africans a hopeful future

Author: ACTIVATE! Change Drivers

A summit to discuss the policies of the National Development Policy framework convenes in Gauteng this week. This is what one NPO would like to see emerge.

Giving young South Africans a future in which they can realise their potential is what any Government should guarantee at the very least. Providing a future filled with hope and the means to dream is what ACTIVATE! Change Drivers would like to see emerge from the NDP Summit: ‘Vision 2030’, this week.

The Vision 2030 Summit, 20-21 November 2019 in Gauteng, brings National and Local Government together with stakeholders in business and civil society. Discussions will be held around achieving better results in implementing the National Development Policy (NDP) framework; accelerating economic development; SMEs can transform the economy; and how the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) will boost trade and investment on the continent.

Further roundtable discussions and keynotes will address public and private partnerships (PPPs) and how PPPs can get South African back on track towards economic growth; and creating impact where it matters with private sector participation.

Activate! Change Drivers, an NPO which empowers young people at grassroots nationally with leadership skills to enable them to make a difference in their communities, will be participating in a panel discussion around how the youth have the power to change South Africa. Issues that will be addressed, include: national youth policy, the Integrated Youth Development Strategy; creating gainful employment for the youth; and national youth policy.

Siphelele Chirwa, Activate Board Member and Executive Director and Tebogo Suping, Network Manager and Executive Director, will be representing Activate at the Summit. Comments Suping: “We are participating in the Vision 2030 Summit because civil society is no longer just about soup kitchens and handing out school shoes. The development conversation is changing, the heart of development is at grassroots level and you need to meet people where they are, the intent is changing. We are bringing the reality into the room, because we need to have one summit that will speak to the needs of the people.

“We need to break the barriers and understand that there needs to be a value chain that needs to be created… That is the only way in which we are going to fight inequality, especially now, because there is no one single individual or single organisation that will be able to carry the load to turn things around.”

Chirwa believes that young people should have a seat at the table because they should have a stake in influencing the national conversation on youth policy. “Young people are out there, getting on with creating meaningful change in their communities, but nobody speaks about it in the bigger context of South Africa, only in negative terms of what the youth are going through.

“Young people need a voice. Now is the time to have young people involved at every aspect of Government, business and society. We have to give the youth platforms to showcase their leadership and talents. Somehow, we have to meet halfway in changing the conversation from talking about the problems, to the impact already being created.”