President Cyril Ramaphosa has called for greater investment in young people, women, health and social development as Southern Africa works towards the realisation of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Vision 2050.
Addressing a Public Lecture at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), Westville Campus, on Friday, President Ramaphosa said the region’s young and growing population represents its greatest strategic asset, but warned that this potential would only become a demographic dividend through deliberate and sustained investment.
More than half of SADC’s population is under the age of 30, making the creation of economic opportunities for young people essential to the region’s stability, cohesion and long-term development.
“Our population is young and growing. More than half the people of this Community are under the age of 30. This is our greatest strategic asset. It is the engine of our region’s future,” President Ramaphosa said.
The President said youth unemployment remains one of the most serious threats facing countries in the region and one of the biggest obstacles to the attainment of Vision 2050.
“Youth unemployment is one of the gravest threats to the stability, cohesion and progress of every country in our Community, and it is one of the foremost obstacles to the realisation of Vision 2050,” he said.
He said young people across the region are acquiring qualifications but are struggling to find employment, underscoring the need to link education and skills development to economic opportunities.
“Across this region are young people who did everything that was asked of them. They stayed in school. They passed. They borrowed money to study. Many graduated, but now too many young people sit at home with a qualification and no employment,” President Ramaphosa said.
He said schools, universities, technical and vocational colleges and research institutions had a critical role to play in developing the skills required for the future economy.
Investing from early childhood
President Ramaphosa said investment in human capital needs to begin well before young people entered tertiary education or the workplace.
He warned that childhood deprivation, particularly stunting, could have lifelong consequences.
“A child whose growth is stunted carries that loss for a lifetime. No university can adequately undo it. No industrial policy can properly compensate for it,” he said.
Under the Human and Social Capital Development pillar of Vision 2050, he called for greater investment in maternal health, early nutrition and basic services.
“We must ensure that all children have food, water and shelter, that they are kept safe and that their development needs are met,” he said.
President Ramaphosa said the region also needed to invest in digital literacy and health services for adolescents, while addressing barriers including child marriage, teenage pregnancy and the digital divide affecting young people in rural areas.
“Each of the barriers we remove adds to the productive capacity of our economies,” he said.
Regional health security
President Ramaphosa said Vision 2050 could not be achieved without a healthy population and called for a harmonised regional health system.
“We seek a harmonised regional health system, in which the standard of care a person receives does not depend on which side of a border they happen to live,” he said.
He expressed concern over the continued burden of maternal, neonatal, child and adolescent deaths in the region, many of which he said were preventable.
The President also called for SADC Member States to strengthen health financing, including through the commitments made under the Abuja Declaration to allocate at least 15 percent of national budgets to healthcare.
“The COVID-19 pandemic taught us that no one is safe until everyone is safe. It taught us that disease does not respect borders.
“As a region, we must engage robustly – with one voice – in the reform of the global health architecture.”
He said the withdrawal of official development assistance has also highlighted the need for greater health security and sovereignty within the region.
Women’s economic participation and safety
President Ramaphosa said meaningful regional integration would not be possible without the full participation of women.
“Vision 2050 makes the fundamental point that there can be no meaningful regional integration if it leaves out half of our people,” he said.
He highlighted barriers that continue to affect women entrepreneurs, including limited access to productive assets, finance, markets and procurement opportunities.
President Ramaphosa also placed gender-based violence and femicide among the challenges that must be confronted if the region is to achieve equality.
“Yet there can be no equality between women and men for as long as women are not safe,” he said.
He called for a comprehensive regional response, including stronger laws, improved prosecutions, support for survivors and economic empowerment of women.
He said prevention must also focus on men and boys.
“As a Community, we must be clear that prevention does not begin with women.
“It begins with the men and the boys in our homes, our schools, our churches, our workplaces and our taverns, who must be raised to reject violence and abuse,” President Cyril Ramaphosa said.
Migration and regional solidarity
President Ramaphosa also addressed migration and discrimination against nationals from other SADC countries, warning that exclusion was incompatible with the principles of regional integration.
“We cannot preach integration at summits and practise exclusion in our streets,” he said.
He expressed concern about the discrimination and ill-treatment of foreign nationals in South Africa and said the region needed to confront the conditions that drive migration.
“We seek a region where people move out of choice, not out of desperation,” President Ramaphosa said.
He called for greater cooperation in addressing conflict, instability, governance failures, poverty and social discord, alongside efforts to create equal economic opportunities and inclusive governance institutions.
Peace remains fundamental
President Ramaphosa said none of the region’s development ambitions could be achieved without peace and stability.
“None of what we seek for our region is achievable without peace. Investment does not flow where there is conflict. People’s basic social needs cannot be provided for in a war zone. An economic corridor cannot operate where territory is contested,” he said.
He described the situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo as the “gravest test” of the region’s collective resolve, noting the displacement of millions of people and the deployment of SADC soldiers in support of peace and stability.
He also welcomed progress in Mozambique’s Inclusive National Dialogue and referred to SADC’s efforts to support processes in Madagascar.
“Our task is not to prescribe outcomes to the people of any Member State. It is to hold open the space within which they may determine their own,” he said.
Climate resilience
The President said climate change presented another major challenge to the attainment of Vision 2050, with the region increasingly experiencing droughts, cyclones and floods.
He warned that climate shocks could result in reduced harvests, lower exports, pressure on currencies, higher living costs and increased hunger.
“Resilience must therefore be built into our every endeavour,” he said.
President Ramaphosa called for the strengthening of the SADC Humanitarian and Emergency Operations Centre so that the region could respond more rapidly to disasters.
“We must act before a disaster strikes, rather than scramble for assistance after it,” he said.
He also called for a common regional position on loss and damage and greater coordination in international climate negotiations.
‘Vision 2050 is yours’
President Ramaphosa concluded by placing the responsibility for the region’s future firmly in the hands of its young people.
He returned to the vision of Pixley ka Isaka Seme, whose 1906 speech, The Regeneration of Africa, imagined a continent transformed through education, science, commerce and human development.
President Ramaphosa said the “brighter day” imagined by Seme should now be understood in practical terms, including regional manufacturing, integrated infrastructure, youth entrepreneurship and opportunities for every child.
“There are many students in this hall today.
“The Southern Africa of 2050 we have described will not be run by those of us who will take our seats at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre in the coming days.
“It will be run by you, the youth of our region,” he said.
President Ramaphosa told young people that Vision 2050 belonged to them and that they had the right to hold current leaders accountable for its implementation.
“Vision 2050 is not our document. It is yours, and you are entitled to demand an account of what we did with it,” he said.
He said the renewal of Africa was no longer simply an aspiration, but a programme of work with actions, responsibilities and deadlines.
“The renewal of our continent is achievable. The realisation of our vision for Southern Africa is within our means,” the President said. – SAnews.gov.za
