Staff Reporter
National Youth Development Agency [NYDA] chairperson Sifiso Mtsweni says the youth agency has set aside R40 million for the Solomon Mahlangu Scholarship Fund, to assist poor students, particularly those coming from rural areas, to pay for their tuition fees.On Friday, the NYDA honoured university graduates, who benefited from the Solomon Mahlangu Scholarship Fund at a gala dinner held at Freedom Park, Pretoria, as part of the 40th-anniversary celebrations of the former MK operative who was brutally killed by the apartheid government in 1979.
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Addressing the gala dinner, which was graced by high profile dignitaries including Arts & Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa, Communications Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, Deputy Minister Thabang Makwetla, and Public Protector Busisiwe Mkwebane, the firebrand NYDA chairperson said the youth agency welcomed the government’s decision to declare Solomon Mahlangu’s home in Mamelodi a national heritage site.“The national heritage precinct will do two things for the people of Mamelodi. First, it will bring much-needed tourists to the people of Mamelodi. And with more tourists coming to Mamelodi, it means the economy of Mamelodi, will begin to operate and when the economy operates, it means young people will get jobs in honour of Solomon Mahlangu,” said Mtsweni to rapturous applause.
Delivering his keynote address, Mthethwa thanked Mahlangu’s family for having allowed him to join the liberation movement to fight for the freedom of the people of South Africa.“It is our right and privilege to celebrate the fact that we were blessed with so rare a gift of a fellow South African, who was an activist, a patriot, a combatant, an internationalist, a human titan who surrendered his life to the cause of all humanity. A principled revolutionary, a true comrade, Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu has chosen the suffering of a life of honor rather than the false comfort of his Judas. Till death, he was loyal to the principles of his movement [the ANC]. Thank you to the family of Mahlangu. Thank you for producing this patriot and sending him to the nation to fight for the liberation of this country. But thank you that even after his death, even after many other people have approached you to dishonour his legacy, to make you people who you do not know who you are and where you come from, you stood firm as a family and said you know who you are,” said Mthethwa.Mahlangu’s lawyer Priscilla Jana described him as a leader who was committed to justice, freedom, and peace.She said Mahlangu remained resolute despite torture in detention and gave her the note before he was hanged with the famous statement: “My blood will nourish the tree that will bear the fruits of freedom. Tell my people that I love them. They must continue the fight”.Mtsweni said the NYDA has declared 2019 the year of the youth, where young people must start reaping the fruits of the tree that brought democracy in South Africa.“Young people continue to be faced with a high level of unemployment and poverty in our country. As the NYDA, because we are an institution of young people, we are an institution that thinks outside of the box, we have begun to engage government to say the issue of unemployment can be resolved and can be resolved very easily. We can never be told that young people in this country remain unemployed but when you open newspapers, when you go to the internet every day, there are jobs that are advertised yet those jobs keep young people outside because someone says you need five years experience or ten years for you to get a job. We said to the president of the country that you cannot tell us that for you to be a receptionist you need three years experience. All you need is to know how to answer a phone and transfer the phone to the next office. You don’t need experience for that,” said Mtsweni.
He told Inside Education that the Solomon Mahlangu Scholarship Fund has so far produced over 500 graduates from different universities across the country.
“We have invested around R40 million for the fund, we have 500 graduates so far fully funded from tuition all the way to allowances,” said Mtsweni.
He said it was unfortunate that many graduates remained unemployed because they did not have the required experience to get employment. “The graduates that we are presenting here today must never become statistics in this country. They must never become graduates that are going to stand in street corners and hold placards to say we are graduates and yet we don’t have a job. These graduates that we are presenting today must apply for jobs. When you advertise jobs, you must remove that demon of experience. If you don’t remove it, we are going to apply for those jobs. We are going to ignore this five years that you wrote there and after we have applied, we will go to the interviews,” said Mtsweni, who directed his remarks to Mthethwa as the senior cabinet member.Mtsweni said the NYDA expected all graduates of the Solomon Mahlangu fund to contribute towards economic growth in the country.
