South Africans living in Ireland will celebrate their national Youth Day this Saturday 16 June.
The day-long event featuring motivational speakers, music, and a ‘spitbraai’ (barbecue) will take place at the Ongar Community Centre near Blanchardstown in west Dublin from noon to 7pm.
South African Ambassador to Ireland Jeremiah Ndou explained to Metro Éireann that his country’s government declared 16 June a national holiday “in honour of all the youth of South Africa who led the fight against apartheid and all forms of discrimination.”
The day also marks the 36th anniversary of the 1976 Soweto Uprising, when police opened fire at a protest for better education and equality during the apartheid regime, killing several students.
Ambassador Ndou added that Youth Day is a sign of his government’s commitment to putting the interests of its younger generations first.
Three years ago, South Africa established the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) to drive home the message of prioritising youth welfare – one of only a few of such bodies in Africa.
The agency is responsible for developing a national youth policy and an integrated youth development strategy and plan for South Africa, the Ambassador added.
Youth Day is just one of a series of events in the month of June, which is dedicated to engaging youth under the theme of working together to build infrastructure and fight youth unemployment, poverty and inequality. The ambassador also said that a sub-theme is ‘youth uniting for economic freedom’.
He emphasised that such challenges are not exclusive to his homeland. “Unemploy-ment, for example, is a general problem in both Ireland and South Africa.”
The Youth Day event in Ongar would be inclusive, he added, with many of the estimated 10,000 South Africans in Ireland set to be joined by Irish people and other nationalities living here.
“Already different youth and community groups have been invited to the event,” said the ambassador, who urged Irish people to come out on the day.
“Irish people were part of the struggle through the role they played with anti-apartheid movement. Both ourselves and Irish people need to celebrate the role of the youth in the struggle.”
