P20 Youth Parliament Begins: Leading the Change South Africa Needs

Today, Parliament is hosting P20 Youth Parliament, a youth-led policy dialogue to celebrate Youth Day on 16 June. The event is a buildup towards the P20 and G20 summits to be held in South Africa later this year and is held under the theme Youth Economic Participation, Employment and Opportunities – Developing a Medium-Term Youth Development Agenda for South Africa’s Youth.

In his opening remarks, the Deputy Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), Mr Poobalan Govender, said the participatory and representative nature of P20 Youth Parliament is embedded in the architecture of South Africa’s parliamentary democracy. Furthermore, hosting this consultative gathering at Parliament indicates the significance of active youth participation in determining South Africa’s democratic future. “We are sending a clear message to the nation and the world: youth are not the leaders of tomorrow – you are leaders today and you will lead the process towards achieving the change that South Africa needs,” he said.

 Continuing to affirm the youth’s role and influence in shaping the South Africa of today and tomorrow, he declared: “You are here because your voice matters. Let’s challenge assumptions. Let’s propose real, practical solutions. And above all, let’s do this together with purpose, passion, pride and patriotism.”

Also speaking at the opening of the event, the Speaker of the National Assembly, Ms Thoko Didiza, gave a broad overview of the overlapping genesis of P20 and 16 June and the youth’s valiant contribution in shaping the democracy that we all enjoy today. She said: “We have created a platform where the young public representatives and young people in our country come together to commemorate and honour the role that young people played in the liberation of our country. We honour their bravery, selflessness, resilience and commitment in ending a brutal system that dehumanised a section of our society and took away the dignity of a majority of our people and delayed our progress as a nation.”

She also acknowledged the contribution of the students who participated in the more-recent #FeesMustFall campaign, who’s efforts ensured expanded access to education. However, she acknowledged that, despite this access, unemployment has left these students destitute and unable to play an active role in the economy. “Today we remain conscious that it is the generation of young people today who are comprising the majority of unemployed in our country despite completing their studies. It is for this reason that our theme focuses on economic participation and employment.”

She further conceded that in spite of democratic gains, rising youth unemployment is a socio-economic deficit that has not been successfully addressed. She also acknowledged that Parliament should endeavour to find solutions to address the sense of helplessness experienced by young South Africans due to unemployment.

 “As much as we are part of the global community and therefore affected by geopolitical shifts that occurs as a result of pandemics and conflict, we need to find solutions that address our immediate challenges in order to give hope to those young people who are on the margins of society,” Ms Didiza noted.

She also wondered whether financial institutions are contributing enough to ensuring that young people are productive. “Are our financial institutions friendly to young entrepreneurs? Are our trade promotion strategies taking into account the concerns of young traders? We need to examine current policies and make inputs on what we need to do to address the scourge of unemployment, in particular youth employment.”

She said she is raising all these issues because P20 has a twin-pronged approach that is local, yet global in nature as it is designed to foreground the political, social and economic issues that can be tabled to the leaders of G20 countries. On the local front, “it is expected to stimulate robust debates and formulate solutions that can positively impact the lives and aspirations of all young people in the country,” Ms Didiza explained.

In addition, the P20 should also have a direct bearing on the medium-term developmental goal that will emanate from South Africa’s fiscal framework, which Parliament passed two days ago. “Our task today is to frame what should be the priority for youth in these medium-term goals. This means the debate and political party statements must unpack the issues and propose solutions that will improve youth inclusion in the job market and business.”

Part of that should take into consideration the impact of technological advances in the world of work and how these can be harnessed to upskill the youth to make them employable in e-commerce and the innovation economy.

Moreover, Ms Didiza encouraged the youth to become politically active to defeat gender-based violence and its attended evils, on the one hand, and on the other, fight from a solid base to ensure social justice and economic inclusion, to defeat any form of any perceived economic discrimination in our societies.

Abel Mputing
13 June 2025