This is the most trying time to be a young person in South Africa – youth unemployment, susceptibility to HIV/AIDS and political apathy. In general, young people feel that their concerns fall on deaf ears.
And this situation is what prompted some lobbyists to call for the introduction of a special Ministry of Youth at the National Youth Development Agency’s Youth Development Summit which was held in Boksburg, Johannesburg on 30 March 2015. The Ministry, they argued, would focus on pertinent issues relating to education, health and enterprise development.
However, the Deputy Minister in the Presidency, Buti Manamela, said the appointment of a special youth ministry was government’s top priority for now. He did hint that government would be open to the appointment of a youth director to monitor the implementation of government policy pertaining to youth.
