NAFCOC YOUTH NELSON MANDELA BAY MEDIA STATEMENT Date: 16 August 2012
Venue: 22 Chamber House- NAFCOC Offices Time: 12:00 STATEMENT OF THE REGIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE (REC) OF NATIONAL AFRICAN FEDERATED CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (NAFCOC) YOUTH IN THE NELSON MANDELA BAY The newly elected National African Federated Chamber of Commerce and Industry Youth regional executive committee held its plenary meeting on Sunday 5th August 2012The meeting in the core was to formulate the operational programme of the executive for its 5 year tenure in leadership and develop a proposed Programme of action that will be the guiding principal policy for the executive. As we embarked and transverse this path, we were guided by words of French-Algerian philosopher and revolutionary writer, Frantz Fanon when he says: "Each generation must, out of relative obscurity, discover its mission, fulfill it, or betray it." As a youth sector of NAFCOC, we thus identify our mission as : "To develop and promote economic growth among existing and new businesses."We further identify our mission in the Nelson Mandela Metro is to: * Organise and mobilise young black Small, Medium and Micro business owners behind the banner of NAFCOC* Provide informed and practical economic leadership to youth of the region in the apparent youth leadership vacuum* Advance procurement opportunities, training, legal and taxation issues of our membership* Provide capacity building and access to markets for our constituency* Establish partnerships with government, parastatals and private sector in entrepreneurial development* Facilitate a conducive environment for black youth owned businesses to participate in mainstream economy* Curb the exponentially escalating statistics of unemployment wherever it rears its ugly head* Strengthen relations with international partners, in particular international trade institutions We met on a very significant month in the South African calendar. We met when the country and the world joined South Africa to commemorate Women's Month. On this month we remember the selfless and heroic struggle of women against the unjust pass laws of the then unjust pass laws of the evil apartheid regime. It is at this juncture where we as NAFCOC youth congratulate Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma on her election as AU commission chair. This proves beyond any reasonable doubt that South Africa has the potential to produce female leaders to be icons and put our country on the map. These brave mothers took to the streets in 1956 to march to the union buildings to make their voices and opinions heard on how they despised being prisoners in their own country by having the carry passes wherever they went. We note with sadness that today in the new democratic dispensation, women are still victims of exploitation, unemployment and marginalisation from economic participation. There are still not enough black females in the high echelons who pull the levers of power in the business world and just society at large. Company boards are predominantly white; with males as the majority gender. The wealth of the country including the Nelson Mandela Metro still rests in the hands of the white minority. As we celebrate this month, as NAFCOC we appeal to the government that matters of women emancipation should not just be prioritised in August during Women's Month or during the 16 days of activism against women and children but must rather be an everyday reality. All of us should use this month to reflect on the challenges facing all the women of this region and evaluate the progress we making in ensuring that South Africa becomes a truly non-sexist society with equal economic opportunities for all its citizens, black or white and male or female. We should ask ourselves as to what more should we do to ensure that the empowerment and emancipation of women becomes a daily reality. As we celebrate National Women's month as NAFCOC Youth, we resolve to accelerate our progress towards gender equality both in the public and private sector and in society as a whole. YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT AND THE NEED FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) there are 77.7 million young people unemployed in the world. The global jobless rate for young people stands at 12.6%. In South Africa, the youth unemployment rate stands at 35.9%. The figures are even higher for the Eastern Cape in which the Nelson Mandela Metro falls under. In 2011 more than 60% of youths between 15 and 19 years and more than 50% youths between 20 and 24 years in the EC were unemployed. These young people were also not studying. The importance of work for young people lies not only in experience and income, but also in the intangible benefits it provides including independence, dignity, a sense of accomplishment and freedom. Once a person has become discouraged, it is very hard to become an active work-seeker again. And the longer one stays out of the labour market, the harder it becomes to find work. It is hard for black youth to be absorbed into the private sector as they are less likely to have networks that will help them to find a job. Many black African youths grow op in households without a wage earner and are thus less likely to obtain information about possible opportunities within the labour market. These statistics prove beyond any reasonable doubt that with a the unemployment crisis in South Africa in general and the Nelson Mandela region in particular is a social ticking time bomb. This time bomb detonates in some parts of the metro in service delivery protests and the majority of those who compose these marches are youth. To depict the horrific state of unemployment I borrow the words of Thomas Carlyle when he wrote: "A man willing to work, and unable to find work, is perhaps the saddest sight that Fortune's inequality exhibits under this sun." As NAFCOC youth we note that some of the unemployed are turning to entrepreneurial endeavors in order to change their current situation. There are two main factors which stoke the entrepreneurial fire; the first is necessity and the second is a desire to gain independence and improve one's current situation. While the government is promising to focus on job creation (yet again), there are still thousands of people without jobs and a means of putting food on the table. Many youths are starting businesses through necessity. It is a hope that these businesses in turn grow sufficiently to support not only the founders, but generate enough profit to have a roll-over effect which creates further job opportunities in the market place. Economists from all walks of life concur on the fact that to combat unemployment, steps need to be taken to limit the supply of labour and to stimulate the demand for labour. This simply means, in order for the economy to grow and jobs to be created as envisaged by our government, there needs to be much focus given to emerging entrepreneurs. These are the businesses that create jobs and will assist in curbing unemployment which is like a cancer eating away our society. A significant number of emerging entrepreneurs (mostly black) fail in the first three years of operation not because they lack the vision but most times they lack the necessary resources and skills needed. As this leadership collective we will continue to vocally advocate that in the massive infrastructure development projects and many others that government has planned, SMME's (especially black) should be prioritised and developed in the process. With a symbiotic and mutual relationship between NAFCOC, government, organised labour and private sector the headache caused by high unemployment levels can be reduced drastically. VACCUM OF YOUTH LEADERSHIP IN THE METRO It is with great sadness that in the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan region the is a lull of youth development leaders. The South African Youth Council (SAYC) which is supposed to be the forerunner and champions of youth economic participation is in ICU and is of no service to the youth of this region. Political formations that were once very vocal in matters of youth development today lack both the will and the capacity to spearhead this campaign, instead its leaders are subjecting themselves to internal petty party politics and leave the noble idea of youth economic emancipation unchallenged. Many of these leaders are incapacitated and fragile to lead this trajectory and therefore this leaves a vacuum of youth leadership. Some of these organisations show their lack of will by electing small adolescents who should be busy with school in demanding positions and this compromises the whole agenda unfulfilled. As youth of NAFCOC Chamber, we will not allow never drown ourselves into uselessness like many are doing in front of us. We will be that missing voice of sober reason in society and on youth business and development matters. We will forever lobby our views where matters of business and development are concerned. We will participate on all forms of media where necessary and will be a nerve to the municipality, local government departments and parastatals to consider the youth businesses in the by-laws and policies they formulate. THE DELAPIDATING STATE OF OUR LOCAL MUNICIPALITY AND CORRUPTION NAFCOC Youth notes with great concern that our municipality has not had a full time Municipal Manager for quite some time now. This in actual sense means that administratively the municipality will not perform optimally as it is weakened at a very crucial and strategic position. We also note that the Municipal youth policy is very stale and needs revising. The 30% that young people are supposed to benefit is not happening and we are forced to compete with already established white companies, this is nothing else but economic genocide and those who mostly suffer are the small black companies. We will propose and champion the calling of a properly constituted Youth Economic Summit were young people can thoroughly discuss their issues> We are saddened by the municipality to require businesses to pay an amount of R60 to get a billing clearance. The billing clearance is just a piece of paper that states that indeed one is a rate payer and therefore should be given free. The small business owners have to pay a huge amount just to get the tender document and are further crippled when they are asked to pay for the billing clearance. We will take this matter up with the relevant authorities and we will not retreat until our requests are met. There are also projects we have noted that just simply do not go to tender but just happen and mushroom overnight in the municipality and this concerns us a lot as it segregates black business. Projects of the municipality are mostly done by big white firms and this leaves black businesses in the periphery. The political power struggle between the ruling party and its deployees in council also cripples service delivery in our municipality. Communities are not being serviced and municipal council meetings are stalled, delayed and intentionally postponed. Our municipality is now made a battle arena and as NAFCOC youth we say while two bulls fight what suffers most is the grass. We condemn with great honesty the tenderpreneurs who are corrupt and corrupt municipal tender processes. Those who pose as authentic entrepreneur and yet grease palms and hands to get municipal tenders must be investigated and dealt with decisively as they are giving us genuine entrepreneurs a bad name. as NAFCOC youth we condemn corruption no matter who it involves and we believe in ethical dealings. SET ASIDES As NAFCOC we note that small businesses do not get access to markets and that government does not prioritise local content. The current local content model gets distorted by BEE scorecards, which make it easy for white owned firms to attain a Level One or Level Two status even if they're not fully compliant, but simply because they score high on skills development and employment equity. Getting points on skills development and employment equity is one of the weaknesses of the scorecard the Department of Trade and Industry has acknowledged and is looking to change, especially because SA already has a skills development act and an employment equity act. This approach marginalises black people from the bidding process. As NAFCOC Youth we suggest and we will lobby for the introduction of "set asides" on government contracts. This refers to a portion of work in a government contract being reserved for a specific group, for example black people, women, youth and people with disabilities. If there is government spending, there must be a "set aside" because it's difficult for our members to get contracts and work in the private sector. But with government spending, you can be allocated a piece of work and then go and raise funding. What we've seen is soft pedalling on the part of government and a lack of strong political will. The gap between the haves and the have-nots is a recipe for disaster. Mathematically, if you want to close the wealth gap, the numbers are wrong. Government must reserve 70% for blacks and 30% for whites, and we are going to close the gap. If you want to balance the act, you cannot keep giving the majority of the people less. The local municipality and government at large ought to play a central role in developing black entrepreneur in the same way that the National Party put in place measures- which included 'set asides"- that drastically changed for the better the lives of Afrikaners, who were equally poor and unskilled, when it took over in 1948. Today Afrikaners own 25% of the JSE. This approach is not copying apartheid policies, but picking out the good from the bad. Countries such as Brazil, China and India are successful because they nurture their small businesses. As NAFCOC Youth in the Nelson Mandela bay we have to create industrialists and manufacturers. We've got to turn hawkers into skilled manufacturers so that they can access opportunities in government and be suppliers of components that are needed in government projects. For far too long, SA has not had a vision that could guide black people developing their own businesses. We are of the belief that 'set asides' are one of the measures the country (municipality) needs to deploy to transform the economy. If Affirmative Action and Employment Equity are allowed, "set asides" cannot be unconstitutional or be viewed as political interference. It is our right to get projects without fear of being called negative names because the truth is, if anybody does the stats, those tenders go to white companies. None of us young black entrepreneurs can say we are where we are because of government projects, but we want them not- for our members and ourselves. As this executive we will advocate and run with this campaign until it yields the desired outcomes. These tasks will not be easy to achieve. Some will be achieved in the immediate short term while others will need time and effort but as we stand and look at the mammoth tasks that awaits us, as fear creeps in we draw from the words of wisdom from the American spiritual activist; Marianne Williamson: " Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There's nothing enlightening about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." For more information Contact: Luvuyo Ponase NAFCOC Youth Nelson Mandela Bay Regional Secretary. 078 720 1471 Sent from my BlackBerry(R) wireless device -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] .
