'Young people are far from being the lost generation' - Cyril Ramaphosa

President Cyril Ramaphosa says he has committed to providing as many opportunities as possible to young people to enable them to reach their potential.

Delivering the keynote address at this year’s Youth Celebration in Polokwane, he said the nation has a responsibility to ensure the flame keeps burning through the youth.

Here is Ramaphosa’s speech in five quotes:

Contributing to the growth

“We are on a mission to support young people entering the labour market by growing new and future jobs and by giving them the opportunities to serve their communities and contribute to the growth of our economy.”

Rise as one

“If our nation can rise as one and open up opportunities for young people in all facets of society, we shall be able to give much greater hope to the young people of our country.”

Not the lost generation

“The country’s young people are far from being the lost generation, they live in a country with enormous opportunities and government is helping them to take up these opportunities.”

Advanced education

“Being able to reach your potential starts with education. The government is on a path to revitalise the economy at a time of great technological advance. Young people need tools for these advances. We are thus prioritising science, technology, arts and mathematics in our education system.”

Advantage of jobs

“We agreed on a number of initiatives to accelerate the skilling of our young people to take advantage of jobs in the tech sector, as well as in installation, maintenance and repair jobs."

Ramaphosa was referring to coding and data analytics, which were introduced as school subjects last year at the Presidential Jobs Summit.