The United Democratic Movement Youth Vanguard would like to congratulate Nolubabalo “Babsie” Nobanda for taking her destiny into her own hands whilst imprisoned in Thailand for drug smuggling. She is returning home with a degree in communications obtained from the University of South Africa.
However, we are concerned that she is coming back to a country with an alarming 29% youth unemployment, which is one of the major contributing factors to our young people finding themselves in conflict with the law and in dire trouble as Ms Nobanda did.
The South African government needs to heed the call of the United Democratic Movement for an urgent Economic Indaba, where all stakeholders can converge under one roof and come up with a solution to the major economic and socio-economic challenges facing this country. Government alone will not in any way help the youth of South Africa out of poverty and unemployment.
We call on all South Africans to stand up for their own country and take it back into our own hands and build it with greatness. Let us have a country where our youth are not forced to make irrevocable decisions to their own detriment, as Ms Nobanda did.
Ms Noloyiso Nontenja
National Task Team Secretary
