06 Oct 2013

The youth have been encouraged to make use of government programmes and initiatives to improve their lives, Kgatleng regional director said on October 4.

Addressing the Economic Youth Pitso, Mr Wonder Masebola said the event came at a time when the youth needed to be nurtured in entrepreneurship. Mr Masebola noted that the magnitude of the pitso, which was held under the theme: Economic Opportunities; A Gateway to Sustainable Youth Livelihoods would go a long way in imparting skills to create business opportunities.

Youth were implored to ensure that they get all the information necessary to help them kickstart their own enterprises and grow their businesses. He further noted that many young Batswana decried lack of information about government programmes despite the availability of such information.

He thus called the youth not be afraid to visit relevant offices to get the information they needed to improve their lives. “Business needs endurance,” he said. “One starts small and they grow big as time goes on. This means one has to focus and make sure their dream comes true.”

Mr Masebola said a business needed a vision, structure, system, staffing and style which would help drive the dream which the business wanted to achieve. By focusing and having the necessary structures in place, he said a youth entrepreneur could be successful and prosperous despite the challenges which come with running a business.

“Time is limited,” he warned. “Do what you can do now and don’t be a coward, for cowards die many deaths before their death.” For his part, the principal youth officer, Mr Kagiso Maputo said the purpose of the pitso is to help empower the youth with all information necessary to start a business.

Government departments and parastatals exhibited their products at the youth pitso. Mr Maputo pointed out that the exposure would help the youth to understand what they need for their businesses to grow and appreciate what needs to be done to ensure growth.

Cllr Maribe Morolong, who came up with the idea of a youth pitso to benefit the youth in his Boseja Central ward, said he was perplexed by the turn up as his intention was to make sure the youth are assisted with government programmes. He said the youth pitso was meant to provide information to the youth so they knew what to do when they conceived business ideas and wanted to implement them.

He said the youth needed to start small businesses to improve their lives, instead of working for Ipelegeng. He also expressed concern about long queues for Ipelegeng programme which showed that young people were not exploiting citizen empowerment programmes.Ends