The Portfolio Committee on Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities Chairperson, Nonhlanhla Ncube-Ndaba, says the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) can contribute to the fight against drug and alcohol abuse through its youth empowerment and development programmes.
Ncube-Ndaba made the remarks during an oversight visit to the NYDA’s provincial offices in Mpumalanga, and beneficiaries supported by the agency on Wednesday.
Ncube-Ndaba said that while the NYDA is performing fairly, it must improve its presence in rural areas to rescue disadvantaged young people from poverty, drugs and alcohol abuse.
“Young people in the rural areas need your service. It is important that you reach out to everyone and don’t spend much time in the offices but go to the people. The NYDA is the only agency that can save our young people,” Ncube-Ndaba said.
The Chairperson added that the NYDA also needs to fight harder to empower youth living with disabilities as they are more disadvantaged.
During visits to young people who received support from the agency, the committee was impressed by how their businesses were progressing and commended the NYDA for its good work.
The committee also encouraged the NYDA to get more young people in forestry, agriculture and in mining industries in the province.
It also urged the agency to explore the development and expansion of programmes to get young people into nature and conservation studies and training, “given the location of the Kruger National Park in the province”.
On Tuesday, the committee conducted an oversight visit to the centres that provide support to victims of violence and abuse, and a police station to assess the handling and processing of Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) cases.
After meeting with the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) leadership, the committee visited the Greater Rape Intervention Programme (GRIP) centre for victims of abuse in KaMagugu, the Thuthuzela Care Centre (TCC) in Themba Hospital, as well as the Masoyi Police Station.
The committee expressed concern with the conditions of the TCC, but commended the Masoyi Police Station for the work it is doing with limited resources.
The committee also commended CGE for its good work in supporting programmes that provide support to survivors of domestic violence and abuse in the province.
The committee continues its oversight visit in the province until Friday, where a meeting will be held with Rapid Response Team (RTT) in Nelspruit on their programmes to deal with GBVF matters. – SAnews.gov.za
