Youth development in South Africa remains one of the greatest challenges. Due to the legacy of apartheid policies and the existing gaps in current policies, most young people still face socio-economic challenges, such as a high rate of unemployment, poverty, lack of business opportunities, lack of skills and a high rate of HIV infection, among other health-related challenges. The advent of democracy transformed the government’s response to the needs of young people. New policies and legislative documents have been formulated since 1994. As part of constant efforts to promote youth welfare, in November 2008, the government launched the National Youth Policy (NYP). The policy stands as an essential guiding tool for youth development in the country. It stresses that mainstreaming youth development requires not only transformation of municipal structures, but also a deliberate willingness of leaders, and that their existing economic policies, strategies, programmes and institutions consider youth priorities. The government established the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) to spearhead co-ordination of youth development. In the Msunduzi Municipality, NYDA is guided by the Youth Advisory Programme that translates the policy at a local level. The purpose of this research was to ascertain whether or not the NYP is being implemented in the municipality through the Youth Advisory Programme. Through a case study done at the NYDA office, the findings indicate that the programme focuses on economic empowerment. First, activities concentrate on career development, which is mainly directed at technical skills, writing and communication skills of the youth, both in and out of school. Second, activities concentrate on entrepreneurial development, which means increasing entrepreneurial culture, business managerial capacities and book-keeping, thereby contributing to sustainable human development. However, for the programme to be effective, it needs a holistic approach to development. It must thus focus on all four pillars of the NYP, namely health and wellbeing, education, economic empowerment and social cohesion. For this to happen, the NYDA needs both financial and human resources, which currently, are under-resourced. Shortage of human and financial resources will continue to hamper youth development in the branch. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.

The abolishment of apartheid government, brought a new era of democratic government in South Africa, which sought to recognise the rights of all people and restored their dignity. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa was promulgated in 1996. Fundamental to this is the Bill of Rights which is a cornerstone of democracy in South Africa. It enshrines the rights of all people in our country and affirms the democratic values of human dignity, equality and freedom. Chapter 7 of the Constitution, as part of the objects of local government, encourages the involvement of communities in the matters of local government. Besides the Constitution, there are various pieces of local government of legislation, which deals with the administration component of the municipality and which provides for the political establishment of municipalities. Legislation calls for municipalities to develop a culture of community participation and requires municipalities to encourage and create conditions for participation in the affairs of the municipality in formulating Integrated Development Plans. Using Umzumbe Municipality under the auspices of Ugu District Municipality as case study, the study critically examined the effectiveness of youth participation in municipal ward Integrated Development Plan (IDP) formulation process. It focused on examining the attitudes and experience of youth in participating on IDP formulation processes. The study also examined the extent to which the youth participation guiding principles have been implemented and evaluate the effectiveness of existing youth structures. This study also investigated the level of youth understanding on the powers and functions of different spheres of government. The lack of youth participation in service delivery projects will defeat the democratic constitutional imperatives, which are also enshrined in municipal legislation. The issues raised by this study determines as to whether the regulatory and legislative frameworks are understood by the youth, and also this study will evaluate, the effectiveness of the existing youth participation mechanisms at a municipal at a ward level. / Thesis (MPA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2011.