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focus on youthS A S O L D I E RLEFT: Youth who completedthe character building trainingentertaining the guests duringtheir certificate ceremony at3 SA Infantry Battalion.BELOW: Marching on …ABOVE: The youth showcasingself-defence tactics.skills in construction, agriculture,household pr<strong>of</strong>iling, welding andrecords management so that they areable to participate in the social andeconomic development <strong>of</strong> their ruralcommunities.During their character buildingtraining at 3 SAI Bn over theperiod February to May <strong>2013</strong> theparticipants acquired skills such asdrill, physical training, leadership,civic education, life skills, youthregeneration, diversity management,environmental management, publicservice induction, communicationand social responsibility. The focuswas to instil self-discipline and beproud South Africans who can take alead in their communities.The main goal <strong>of</strong> the programme is torecruit and develop rural youth aged18 to 35 as parapr<strong>of</strong>essionals who willprovide community service in thecommunities in which they reside.The initiative has to date recruited inexcess <strong>of</strong> 13 000 rural youth around thecountry.Rural communities daily face variouschallenges, including high levels <strong>of</strong>unemployment among the youth andlack <strong>of</strong> vocational skills, very limitedjob opportunities. Exacerbating thissituation is the lack <strong>of</strong> economic andsocial development, as well as verylimited access to government servicesand other basic services.Artisan and cultural promotionprogrammes are promoted as part<strong>of</strong> rural training that the National<strong>Defence</strong> Force is providing for allcommunities that are connectedto <strong>Defence</strong> institutions. Thisprogramme is useful to people inrural areas, particularly the youth,who change from being job seekersinto becoming job creators in theirown right, thus breaking the viciouscycle <strong>of</strong> dependency on socialgrants.This is a Government effort to curbmigration to urban areas, whichincrease service delivery protestactions and high unemploymentprevalent among the youthand people in rural areas. Thiscommunity service was initiated toreskill the citizens, thus providinganother opportunity for economicparticipation through maintenance<strong>of</strong> existing infrastructure.J U N E 2 0 1 3 • 25
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