By Zamamiya Majola

Makana Local Municipality hosted the first in a series of planned meetings with young people with the aim of establishing a Youth Forum Structure. The first meeting organised by the Youth Coordinator, Mr Sicelo Gqeke, in the Executive Mayor’s Special Programmes Unit took place at Noluthando Hall on Tuesday, 06 June. The meetings are intended to run until 15 June at various wards throughout the Municipality with the intention of accelerating youth development and establishing Ward Forums in all wards.

Young people of Wards 2 and 9 in attendance were both excited and eager to hear more about the development prospects and programmes which are intended to ensure sustainable development for the youth of Makana. The Ward Forum for ward 2 was elected at the meeting, it is made up of five members. Ward 9 elected two representatives in the meeting and will elect the remaining three representatives in an upcoming meeting (time and date to be announced).

Ward 2 Councillor Ramie Xonxa welcomed the youth with a discussion focused on recognising skills development opportunities, such as learnerships as platforms for personal development. Councillor Xonxa highlighted the need for young people to use learnership programmes as platforms for establishing businesses and in the process create work opportunities for themselves.

Mr Gqeke indicated that some of his office’s aims for young people included ensuring economic development opportunities, social cohesion, creating work-readiness programmes, creating job opportunities and assisting the youth to acquire adequate education with bursaries. The Youth office works closely with the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) to realise some of these aims. Plans are afoot to strengthen this collaboration with the establishment of a District NYDA office in Makhanda. Plans are also in place to establish a Youth Development Centre at the old Fire station in Extension 6. The initiative is spearheaded by the Department of labour. The venue has already been approved for that purpose and the Department and the Municipality are finalising the finer details of the work that needs to happen.

The meeting concluded with Mr Gqeke reflecting on the authority the Youth Forums will have. Mr Gqeke said the structure was initially under the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and has subsequently been absorbed into the municipal structures under the Mayor’s office. He added that these structures are not intended to be duplicates of existing youth development programmes, but to rather be an extension to create collaboration platforms to ensure the development of the youth of Makana Local Municipality.

The upcoming meetings will be held from the 7th to the 15th of June in various wards. Once all the Ward Forums have been established, they will meet with the Executive Mayor at the City Hall on 16 June 2023 to reflect on strategies and programmes which will contribute to sustainable development for the youth in Makana. The next meeting will take place at the Extension 9 Hall at 17h00 on 07 June 2023.

Issued by the Makana Municipality Communications Office.