Empower the youth to fight unemployment: Manamela

"The first plan to deal with unemployment is empowering individual young people to do something about whatever situation that they find themselves in... to open up the doors of education and ensure they are skilled," Manamela said on Thursday.

"What is more critical is to also have a youth core that says 'we are not only going to join the unemployment queue but we will also be creators of work'."

Manamela was speaking to the media at Orlando Stadium in Soweto where the national Youth Day celebration is being held to commemorate 40 years since the Soweto student uprising of 1976.

Manamela said he was aware of the challenges facing the youth but appealed to them to stand up and try to change their situation.

Don't destroy property

"We know there are hurdles but the committed ones say 'irrespective of our situations we will make it'," he said.

Manamela said Youth Day was important for the country as it provided an opportunity to remember the efforts, energies and struggles young people fought 40 years ago.

But he called on today's youth to take a leaf out of the class of 1976 not to destroy property as they protested.

"We are also reconnecting to say the struggle continues. We are saying that as young people as we protest, chant and contextualise the struggles of 40 years ago, we are saying let's commit not to burn universities, schools but to ensure we protect those as the properties of our communities," he said.