‘Rent-a-crowd’ youth called out at NMU annual youth convention

Political instability at national level creates havoc in the economy, a speaker at Nelson Mandela University’s annual youth convention said on Tuesday.

Black Management Forum president Andile Nomlala said the factional battles between ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule’s camp and those aligned to President Cyril Ramaphosa had grave consequences for SA, and the youth were unable to speak up due to their alignments.

Nomlala described the youth as a “rent-a-crowd”.

“The senseless, reckless and unnecessary squabbles are compromising our country.”

Directing his comments at the students present, Nomlala said: “None of you here are able to call them off and say ‘enough is enough’ because political instability – particularly within the ruling party – amounts to instability [in] our own society.

“Instead, you are participants, agents and a rent-a-crowd youth that gets used by those politicians for nothing.

“They don’t even give you the deals.

“You only drive the expensive cars, go fetch women somewhere, and you’re given a glass of alcohol and you’ve sold an entire generation for that.”

Political analyst and researcher Ralph Mathekga said there was a practice where the youth were used as a tool to disrupt meetings and burn tyres during protests.

He questioned whether the youth were an asset or a liability in the country.

“We have failed to turn the youth into an asset.

“We have failed to harness that demographic dividend and what inevitably happens is that the youth becomes a cost to society and the economy,” Mathekga said.

Former president Kgalema Motlanthe, who gave the keynote address, said youth affairs should not be confined to an agency or a desk of advisers in the presidency.

He proposed that an apex youth affairs ministry be established to tackle issues facing the youth, including the handling of job opportunities for the youth and spending money on youth-related matters.

“Let us face it, all of our efforts, intervention after intervention, are failing miserably by not producing the required outcomes and addressing the underlying issues.

“Apparent structures, frameworks depend on a delivery model founded on a disconnected state and even the implementation details are lost due to the dependency on multi-layers of state agencies.

“The hegemony of the state is stifling development and implementation of a comprehensive and integrated youth development strategy.”

Motlanthe said he envisioned the ministry would be responsible for youth affairs, implementation of youth programmes, and ensuring a more integrated approach.

“Budgets should be centralised by this ministry to ensure [the] delivery of the required services.

“The youth ministry must be an apex ministry responsible for education, youth development and training as well as economic development.

“The structural framework must change, the delivery of youth outcomes must be implemented at the local level.

“The youth ministry will be able to streamline and implement its programmes more efficiently, and effectively integrate youth service and mechanisms, reduce implementation timelines, rationalise and optimise public budgets, deliver youth service where it’s needed, reduce government expenditure, and employ masses of youth and engage the radical ideas of the youth to unleash their potential,” he said.

Asked if he had raised the suggestion of the youth ministry with Ramaphosa, Motlanthe said it was the first time he had brought up the idea in a public space, but that he constantly suggested youth-related programmes whenever he attended the ANC’s national executive committee lekgotlas.

“This is the platform I use to raise such issues,” he said.

Also present at the convention was sports, recreation, arts and culture MEC Fezeka Bayeni, representing premier Oscar Mabuyane.

Bayeni said university students across the country were anxious about their future due to job uncertainty.

“Their anxiety is not misplaced because they see the daily struggles of graduates in our communities,” she said.

Bayeni announced a R150m intervention by the provincial government to upskill the youth through the Isiqalo Youth Fund to support youth-owned businesses.

“We’ll accordingly focus our investment on six key areas – manufacturing, agricultural production, the oceans economy, skills development and youth employment, and then tourism, creative arts and township development.”

Speaking about the convention, NMU vice-chancellor Sibongile Muthwa said the new thinking should be about developing youth capabilities and letting young people thrive.

“Most importantly, the cultivation of ideas that propel them to the front and influence scheduled change in society.”

Muthwa said this phase of development required consistent, transcendental leadership that had an appreciation for the dynamic context within which it functioned.

“This period calls for unbounded leadership, young people who are prepared to work beyond the narrow boundaries of their institutions ... a new generation of leaders driven by a deep sense of commitment to serve a cause much larger than themselves.”