Colleagues, today we gather here to remember the brave students that led the 1976 uprisings, which charted a new path and laid the foundation for a new democratic dispensation. At the same time, we honour 50 years of the IFP, 50 years of servant leadership and 50 years of activism of the IFP Youth Brigade. 

In line with the struggle of our Youth in 1976, our Founder, the late Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi champion the slogan “Education For Liberation”. He further demonstrated that motto by personally mobilising and founded this institution Mangosuthu University of Technology which is not named after him not only as honourary but as credit to the work of his hands. 

These are all such significant milestones in the history of our country. 

I am pleased that I have the chance to talk to you today on June 16, year 2025. For Youth Day is about more than just looking backwards and remembering the past. It is also about shaping the future. 

Our late Founder uMntwana waKwaPhindangene imbued the IFP with the values and principles of the past generation; of those who liberated South Africa. I am confident that that you, the young elephants of the IFP, will take these values into the future, offering to our country what tomorrow needs. 

For the past year now, there has been a new balance of power in South Africa, and the Government of KwaZulu Natal look very different under the IFP’s leadership. 

A new era has arrived, with fresh opportunities and renewed hope. And now is the time for you - the next generation of leaders - to lead and to show the way. 

Your leadership now is more needed than ever before. 

For there is no shortage of hardship confronting young people. The struggle you must lead now is that of identifying the barriers to opportunity, the barriers to hope, the barriers to success; and to break them once and for all.

Undoubtedly, with the advent of the Government of National Unity (GNU) and the Government of Provincial Unity (GPU) we have closed a terrible chapter in our history. One that brought our country to the brink of destruction.

But the truth is: we will still be paying for the mistakes of the past administrations for many more years to come. The GNU and GPUs in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng are not magic bullets to fix all our problems overnight. 

Our state coffers are nearly empty. And our economy is not growing. 

Our biggest worries remain corruption, crime, gender-based violence, poverty, and our poor education and healthcare systems. But the greatest barrier to the future for South Africa’s youth, is the barrier of unemployment. The most important thing we can do now is to get our youth working. 

It pains me to see that almost every low skill and no skill sector, whether it is the delivery, e-hailing, construction, restaurant, hospitality and more, employing more and more illegal foreign nationals. These are your jobs. These jobs, belong to you. 

I know the character of IFP youth. I know that you want to work. No one is asking for a free ride. Or a hand-out. The R350 is too little to meet your basic needs. What you are asking for is decent education that prepares you for work, for the chance to gain experience and to be equipped with skills that are needed and can contribute to the economy. You are asking to become part of the development of South Africa; to become part of the solution to a shrinking economy. 

We have made a promise to you, the young people of our country, that we will lead a campaign that we will see entry-level jobs reserved for you. Opened up and occupied by young South Africans. To this end, we are putting the final touches on legislation that will serve in front of Parliament that will ensure that the jobs that requires no skill and low-skill jobs are secured for young, our young South Africans. 

But we must face the facts today: there is a barrier to economic development that begins in our education system. There is something seriously wrong in the foundation we are providing to our youth. And there is a mismatch between the needs of the economy and what our education system is producing. The education you are receiving is not preparing you for the job market.

How many times have you been told that you don’t have the right experience for an entry level job? Or that you don’t have the skills they are looking for? Or that you don’t have the right qualifications? 

How many young people with a matric certificate are still unemployed? And what about all those who don’t make it to matric? The facts about our failing education system are difficult to digest. About half the learners who start school don’t reach Grade 12. How many will go on to a tertiary education? 

We often tend to think that there is an army of students out there who are preparing to make their mark on South Africa’s economy. But in reality, only a small percentage of black youths between the age of 20 and 24 are enrolled at a tertiary institution. And it is estimated that less than a quarter, will ever graduate. And among the few who do eventually graduate, unemployment remains a very real prospect. 

This can no longer be the status quo. We continue with our fight for the unemployed graduates to receive the first priority across all government departments.

It is time now that the Government of National Unity which, the IFP is part of, needs to look at education as a matter of priority and in a whole new way. 

Firstly, we need to accept that ours is a digital age, in which information dominates. The worst thing we can do is to keep data costs so high that information remains inaccessible. 

If Government is serious about equipping you with knowledge, skills and information, we need to make fast, efficient and cheap broadband available everywhere, to everyone. The inequality that exists between our people is only going to grow, if some are left behind with no access to information and social media.

We need to focus our education system on creating competent digital citizens. Because social media is not just for posting selfies and catching up on the latest celebrity gossip. 

If you need help putting together a CV, you can get an instant online tutorial. Many prospective employers prefer you to get in touch by email. You can also find out more about the company you are applying to by checking out their website and reading their media statements. You can brush up on your general knowledge, improve your understanding of any field, and get the latest news on politics, business, the service industry or retail. You can get tips before an interview, and advice on how to manage your finances.

The point is that Government must make digital information more accessible if they want this generation to grow and prosper. Coupled with that, they need to transform the education system to enable learners to become masters of their own destiny. So much of the information we receive comes in the form of adverts, text messages and articles. Why then is our education system not focussed on reading? 

In a digital age, where information is power, schools must equip learners to read well, to engage critically, to convey a message, to develop an argument and to write persuasively. 

In this way, young people will be empowered. 

It will be far more difficult for politicians to mislead the youth when the youth have access to the facts and figures, and are trained to listen out for misrepresentation, manipulation and fake news. 

I know that the Youth Brigade has made proposals, some of which have been shared with me, on how to tackle the many crises facing the youth.

1. Firstly, you want a full-functioning NYDA that meets the needs of all young South Africans. I have heard your calls that you want the NYDA Board processes finalised without undue interference and unnecessary, further delays. 

2. You want the Department of Higher Education to be held accountable for the performance of the National Skills Fund. The fund is not in touch with the realities of the young people of today, and many young people do not know that the Fund exists. Passionate young people who want to improve their skills in different sectors - and young people who have invested in ideas but lack the skills to execute them - do not know that there is a fund waiting for them. 

3. You want the political statements on the industrialisation of the country to be realised, and local economic empowerment to be prioritised and the spaza shop industry reserved for South Africans. There shall never be mass employment if we don't industrialise nor invest in small micro-enterprises. 

4. NSFAS continues to be a challenge, the security, and safety of students in many universities and secondary schools are an on-going concern, which requires urgent intervention. 

5. You believe that the call for a Youth Ministry remains relevant. One stand-alone entity working towards finding permanent solutions, monitoring and overseeing their implementation. Failing which, June will always be regarded as a month of ventilation with substantial solutions. 

All of these issues we will be taking up on your behalf at a Government level.

Like the youth of 1976, I make a special appeal to all of you, the youth of today, let’s lead the fight against gender-based violence and femicide and let’s be the vanguards of our children.

A very brutal war is waging against our women and children in many communities and throughout the length and breadth of our country. Let’s stand up and say enough is enough. Let us say, not in our names, not during our time, and let us be the changemakers, the ones who break the cycle of violence. 

I ask you to become the activists of today. 

I know that there are very real barriers to development, job creation and economic recovery. But those barriers can be broken. 

Take up your inheritance; the legacy of discipline, integrity and peace, and wage a powerful campaign for change in our country. Let this be the struggle of a new generation: fight for it. Demand it. 

Next year is the year of the local government elections. I urge you to participate in the demarcation boards process, the WPLG review and, to campaign and become candidates as ward and PR councillors to champion Local Economic Development for the benefit of the youth, both males and females and including vulnerable groups. 

The IFP does not only believe in youth empowerment but we empower, we capacitate and deploy young people to key and critical positions. We have deployed the following young leaders:

Mayors 

Cde M Myeza = As Mayor of Inkosi Langalibalele

Cde L Mthembu = As Mayor of Amajuba

Cde Mkhize = As Mayor of Endumeni

Deputy Mayors 
Cde Philile Xulu

MMC Joburg
Cde Mlungisi Mabaso

MPLs
Cde Thando Dlamini (Portfolio Social Development)
Mncedisi Maphisa (Chairperson portfolio Transport and Human Settlement), and 

MPs
Cde Sanele Zondo – Deputy Chief Whip

It is within your power, and your generation, to take the reins. Let us break the barriers, so that you, the builders, the IFP Youth, can build the future that you want to live in. 

Together, we can rescue and rebuild South Africa and restore our country to its former glory. 

You are the IFP. You’re the future of the IFP and our country. You must be prepared to be empowered, also take the initiative to read and empower yourselves to be ready to receive the leadership button from our generation to your generation and the future generations.  

I thank you.