PERCEPTIONS OF SOUTH AFRICAN YOUTH OF LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES: A CASE IN THE LEPELLE-NKUMPI MUNICIPAL AREA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25159/1727-7140/1637Keywords:
development, leadership, knowledge, skills, programmesAbstract
The South African youth faces multiple challenges that range from illiteracy, drug and alcohol abuse, crime and HIV/AIDS, to unemployment. These challenges and many other ills in society have led to interventions by government, and private and other civil societies. The government has established and initiated a number of programmes that aim at building capacity and helping the youth to cope with these multiple challenges. Some of the programmes are aimed at building leadership capacity among the impoverished youth in rural communities. A lot of money is being invested in these programmes, which are meant to develop young South Africans. However, there are some young people who do not participate in these programmes. They are also not in the formal education system, self-employed or employed elsewhere. And they are despondent. The government, private sector and non-governmental organisations are trying hard to bring these youths and others into the developmental arena, so that they can be active participants in the economy of the country in the near future. However, little research has been conducted to assess the broad impact of the various programmes in the country. The contribution that these programmes are making toward improving the livelihoods of young people has to be determined on a larger scale. Nevertheless, this article reports on an investigation that was conducted on a smaller scale, at the Lepelle-Nkumpi Local Municipality. The aim of the research was to explore the perceptions young South Africans have of the leadership development programmes that they have participated in. A mixed research approach was used to collect data and the key findings indicated that knowledge accumulated through participation in the programmes does not always translate into practical applications. However, the programmes were deemed to be valuable in instilling a positive life-view. The study recommends that support systems be established in the rural areas to assist young people with life challenges.
References
African Youth Charter. 2009. Learning to Live Together. Available at: http://www.unesco.org/ new/en/social/-and-human-sciences/themes/youth/strategy-african-youth/african-youthcharter (Accessed 10 September 2014).
Armstrong, A. 2005. “Mainstreaming Youth in the Development Process’’. Commonwealth Youth and Development 3(1): 5–16.
Asamoah, A. 2014. “Head-to-head: Is Africa’s Young Population a Risk or an Asset?†NewsAfrica. Available at: http:www.bbc.com/new/worl-africa-25869838 (Accessed…).
Ashford, L.S. 2007. Africa’s Youthful Population: Risk or Opportunity? Population Reference Bureau. USAID.
Babbie, E. and J. Mouton. 2001. The Practice of Social Research (South African edition). Cape Town: Oxford University Press.
Cooper, D.R. and P.S. Schindler. 2011. Business Research Methods (11th edition). Singapore. McGraw Hill.
Crause, E.T. and M. Booyens. 2010. “Demographic Tragedy or Opportunity? Are Micro-issues
Necessitating a New Social Contract with the Youth in South Africa? Commonwealth Youth and Development 8(2): 2–15.
Economic Focus. 2014. South Africa Population is the Youngest in the World. Available at: http:// www.stanlib.com/EconomicFocus/P (Accessed 10 September 2014).
Everatt, D. 2007. “Where is Our Share? Youth and the Democracy Dividend in Post-Apartheid South Africa.†Africa Insight 37(3): 404–419. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4314/ai.v37i3.22499
Gumede, V. 2012. “Youth Development and Women Empowerment in an Evolving Post-Apartheid South African Developmental State.†University of Johannesburg. Available at: http://www. vusigumede.com/content/2012/JAN%202012/Youth%20&%20Women%20in%20SA%20 (website%20academic%20paper, %2030%20January%202012).pdf (Accessed…)
HSRC. 2006. The state of Youth Development in 2006. Mid-term Review Discussion Document.
Available at: http://www.thepresidency.gov.za/docs/pcsa/social/youth/pdf/legislation (Accessed 10 September 2014).
Leedy, P.D. and J.E. Ormond. 2014. Practical Research Planning and Design. 10th edition. NewJersey: Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall.
Lepelle-Nkumpi Youth Development Policy. 2012. Municipal Managers Department. Special Programmes.
Manala, M.J. 2010. ‘A better life for all.’ A Reality or a Pipe-dream? A Black Theology Intervention in Conditions of Poor Service Delivery in the Democratic South Africa’. Scriptura: International Journal of Bible, Religion and Theology in Southern Africa 105: 519–531. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7833/105-0-170
National Youth Development Agency. 2011. The Integrated Youth Development Strategy (IYDS) of South Africa 2012—2016. South Africa: Policy and Research Cluster.
National Youth Development Agency. 2014. Available at: http//www.nyda.gov.za/About-us/ nda/pages/default.aspx. (Accessed 10 September 2014).
Nicolson, G. 2013. “Analysis: Desperate Youth of South Africa.†Daily Maverick. Available at: http:www.daily maverick.co.za/article/2013-06-18-analysis-desperate-youth-of-south Africa/
Population Reference Bureau. 2013. The World’s Youth. 2013 Data Sheet. http://www.prb.org/ Publications/Datasheets/2013/youth-datasheet-2013.aspx/ http://www.prb.org/Publications/ Datasheets/2013/youth-datasheet-2013.aspx/ (Accessed 10 September 2014). .
Statistics South Africa. 2013. Available at: http://www.statssa.gov.za/census01/census96/wards/ catb/NP355htm.Population. (Accessed 10 September 2014).
Severino, J.M. 2014. “Head-to-head: Is Africa’s Young Population a Risk or an Asset?†News Africa. Available at: http:www.bbc.com/new/world-africa-25869838 (Accessed 10 September 2014).
Youth Development Policy: City of Cape Town. 2013. “This City works for you.†Cape Town.
Youth Development Research Report. 2014. Where it’s come from, where it is, where it’s going. National Youth Services. Youth Development Network. Available at: http://www.ydn.org.za/ resources/brochure/National%20Youth%20Services%2010.05.05.pdf.
Youth Policy Team. 2014. Building a global evidence-base for youth policy and development. Available at http://www.youthpolicy.org/blog/2014/05/the -fellowship-of-the-hashtag/ (Accessed 10 September 2014).
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright will be vested in Unisa Press. However, as long as you do not use the article in ways which would directly conflict with the publisher’s business interests, you retain the right to use your own article (provided you acknowledge the published version of the article) as follows:
- to make further copies of all or part of the published article for your use in classroom teaching;
- to make copies of the final accepted version of the article for internal distribution within your institution, or to place it on your own or your institution’s website or repository, or on a site that does not charge for access to the article, but you must arrange not to make the final accepted version of the article available to the public until 18 months after the date of acceptance;
- to re-use all or part of this material in a compilation of your own works or in a textbook of which you are the author, or as the basis for a conference presentation.
