The Office of the Speaker in the City of Johannesburg took a detour this year as it commemorated Youth Month in Alexandra on Saturday 23 June.
Speaking at the event – which was attended by dozens of Alexandra community members, including families of those who died in June 1976 – held at the Altrec Sports complex, Chief Whip in the City of Johannesburg Council, Kevin Wax, said it had been the norm for the previous ANC-led administration to only stage the event in Soweto.
Read: Budding businessman advises Alex youths to join entrepreneurship
Wax said whilst it has been 24 years since the advent of democracy and the historic defeat of the apartheid regime, South Africans are still grappling with the critical issues of inequality, poverty, unemployment and a wide range of socio-economic challenges, especially the youth.
He also alluded to the education system as being the root cause of youth unemployment and lack of skills. “Our youth face further challenges such as the quality of education, access to tertiary education and a curriculum that inadequately prepares them for the open labour market,” he said.
Wax encouraged them to start their own businesses and register with the Central Supplier Database so that they will be able to do business with the City.
Speaking on behalf of the affected June 16 families, Vusi Mathodlana thanked the City for staging the event in Alexandra and urged the young ones to love their books and distance themselves from drugs and substance abuse.
Read: Global Entrepreneurship Congress, hosted by Vodacom, empowers the youth
Jimmy Masingi, a member of the Japie Vilankulu Trust Fund board, pleaded with the City of Johannesburg to do something in Alexandra in honour of Japie Vilankulu, a student’s leader who was shot and killed on 17 June 1976 in the Alexandra uprising.
