With everything that has taken place in South Africa in the past year, the State of the Nation Address (SoNA) 2016 is, without doubt, the most anticipated event at the moment. The suspense will finally come to an end this evening as President Jacob Zuma will take a stand to report on the current political and socio-economic matters of the country.

ACTIVATE! Change Drivers took to Twitter to gather young people’s opinions on the current state of affairs as well as their expectations from this year’s SoNA. Previously, the President stated that youth development is a top priority for government; therefore more focus would be devoted in that area. We asked young people whether they think this was fulfilled. @Tickle_Me_Joey said it was somewhat achieved because the National Youth Development Agency’s efforts were more visible in some parts of the country like the Free State.   

It is clear that young people are more interested in the details of how the government is tackling issues that mainly affect the youth. The high rate of youth unemployment and access to free and quality education are on top of the list. These are the issues that young people feel are being neglected by the Presidency.

@InvolveYouth said the creation of job opportunities for unemployed youth should be on top of the agenda for the country this year. @Oz_lart feels that our current education system and methods are not efficient in serving everyone so new ways of enforcing educations such as practical skills schools should be implemented.

As it seems, the government alone is struggling in resolving youth related issues. We asked what steps can the youth take in moving South Africa forward. @TebohoTenyane thinks young people’s involvement is more crucial than ever in creating a sustainable environment for the country and @Tickle_Me_Joy encouraged the youth to be active in resolving issues that affect their communities. @InvolveYouth stressed that every young person in South Africa should make it their duty to fight corruption.

SoNA 2016 will take place this evening at the Parliament of South Africa at 19h00. The speech will be broadcasted live on Parliament Channel, SABC News, ENCA, ANN7, Aljazeera and many national and international radio stations. ACTIVATE! Change Drivers media partner Live Mag will also be updating the public live from Parliament.

For more insights by the youth from our Twitter engagement, please follow this link

ACTIVATE! Change Drivers will initiate a similar conversation with the Deputy Minister for the National Planning and Monitoring in the Presidency, Buti Manamela tomorrow, Friday 12 February at 13h00.

Issued by ACTIVATE! Change Drivers. For more information please visit www.activateleadership.co.za

For media related queries, please contact:

Nelisa Ngqulana

Communications Manager: ACTIVATE! Change Drivers

Email: nelisa@localhost (cc: communications@localhost)

Cell: 073 817 8017