By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Deputy President Paul Mashatile, together with the Department of Defence and the Department of Women, Youth, and Persons with Disabilities (DWYPD), unveiled the South African National Service Institution (SANSI) in Pretoria on Tuesday.
Speaking at the launch of the South African National Service Institute on Tuesday, Mashatile urged South Africans to vote in their numbers.
“Remember that placing your process on the ballot papers will fulfil a task that history has put on our shoulders. Most importantly, you will be deciding for yourselves the direction of our country and the path that it should take going forward.”
Millions of South Africans are expected to vote in the national and provincial elections on 29 May.
Mahatile also said the South African National Defence Force (SANDF)-led NYS is a special project that will be piloted and implemented in the country’s poorest districts, where most youngsters are unemployed.
He called on young people to apply for the newly launched National Youth Service.
Mashatile said the project aims to reach at least 100,000 individuals in the current fiscal year.
“I urge all young individuals who meet the eligibility requirements for the National Youth Service to submit their applications promptly and in large quantities.
“The youth must also take advantage of the opportunity presented by the programme to equip themselves with the much-needed skills.”
South Africa’s unemployment rate increased from 32.1% in the last quarter of 2023 to 32.9% in the first quarter of 2024.
He says the focus must be on upskilling the youth in sectors with high absorption capacity, connecting them to much-needed jobs, and eliminating the inequality gap.
“This implies that we must double our efforts to collaborate to address this socio-economic imbalance which disproportionately affects young men and women who wish to contribute to the growth of society.
“Our efforts should focus on disrupting the structural afterlives of an economy that has consistently subjugated the marginalised for decades.”
Minister of Defence Thandi Modise described SANSI as a necessary and important initiative and thanked the DWYPD Minister, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, for rallying her to see the bigger picture.
“It tallied with the call from all society that asked the Defence Force to do something and cries of mothers who had their hands on their heads and those who were trying to fight the nyaope. We see SANSI as that instrument in the hands of the Defence Force that will enable our children to come into their own,” said Modise.
Shifting her focus to the young participants in SANSI, she emphasised that the SANDF will ensure their punctuality, obedience, ability to give and receive instructions, and leadership skills.