President Jacob Zuma on Tuesday urged students at the Tshwane University of Technology in Soshanguve‚ Pretoria‚ to use peaceful means of exercising their democratic right to protest and raise issues.
“Remember that as young people you are leaders of the future. You should lead by example and not use violence to solve problems‚” he said.
Zuma said that recent protests at the campus‚ “which tend to be violent”‚ were a matter of concern.
The president said that he believed in the youth of South Africa‚ and urged the community to work with government to promote a better life for the youth.
“I launched the Presidential Youth Working Group on 9 June which will assist us to obtain the views of young people and to work with them in building a better future for the youth in our country.
“We have also launched a National Youth Policy 2020 designed to drive government youth development programmes.”
He told the students there were many opportunities for young people which they needed to know about‚ and use them.
“Government has for example made R2.7-billion available through the Industrial Development Corporation and the Small Enterprise Finance Agency to finance the growth of youth enterprises.
“We also urge the youth to use the opportunities provided by the second chance programmes for passing matric for those who were unsuccessful in previous years.
“Our message to our youth is that you should never give up. Those who did not pass matric must go to community colleges and adult basic education centres.”
President calls on students to lead by example
President Jacob Zuma on Tuesday urged students at the Tshwane University of Technology in Soshanguve‚ Pretoria‚ to use peaceful means of exercising their democratic right to protest and raise issues.
“Remember that as young people you are leaders of the future. You should lead by example and not use violence to solve problems‚” he said.
Zuma said that recent protests at the campus‚ “which tend to be violent”‚ were a matter of concern.
The president said that he believed in the youth of South Africa‚ and urged the community to work with government to promote a better life for the youth.
“I launched the Presidential Youth Working Group on 9 June which will assist us to obtain the views of young people and to work with them in building a better future for the youth in our country.
“We have also launched a National Youth Policy 2020 designed to drive government youth development programmes.”
He told the students there were many opportunities for young people which they needed to know about‚ and use them.
“Government has for example made R2.7-billion available through the Industrial Development Corporation and the Small Enterprise Finance Agency to finance the growth of youth enterprises.
“We also urge the youth to use the opportunities provided by the second chance programmes for passing matric for those who were unsuccessful in previous years.
“Our message to our youth is that you should never give up. Those who did not pass matric must go to community colleges and adult basic education centres.”