Young people in Alexandra are pressing to shape the city’s youth policy framework, warning that unless they take the lead, their future will continue to be shaped by decision-makers who overlook their most urgent challenges.

At a consultative workshop, hosted by the City of Johannesburg at the Alex-SanKopano Community Centre on November 21, participants reflected on delays in strengthening the framework. The city’s youth policy was formally adopted in 2009, with a draft review process underway by 2020 leading to its replacement in 2021.

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Tshepo Lekwape, co-chairperson of the Johannesburg Aids Council, told the workshop that youth consultations in the early 2010s had emphasised the need for regular policy updates. He said they pushed the city to engage young people meaningfully. In those discussions, he said they advocated for the policy to be renewed every five years, but now, more than a decade later, while a new version was adopted in 2021, many agreed priorities are still not fully implemented.

Lekwape also spoke about the national Zikhala Kanjani strategy, a youth-focused HIV prevention initiative launched in 2024 by the South African Department of Health and the South African National Aids Council. The strategy emphasises biomedical, behavioral, and structural interventions to curb HIV infections among young people.

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While biomedical aspects have seen strong resource allocation, Lekwape argued that behavioral and structural supports, such as education on healthy relationships and economic opportunities, still lag in local implementation. He warned that this contributes to high rates of teenage pregnancy and HIV infections, exacerbated by unemployment and poverty that drive young people into exploitative relationships.

Although the 2009 and 2021 policies make reference to making health accessible to youth, Lekwape said most clinics still lack youth-dedicated spaces. This leaves young people vulnerable to stigma when seeking reproductive health care. “I have it on record that in two regions in which we met and spoke with the facility managers, they said their facilities do not have adolescent and youth friendly services. That means when a young girl goes to that clinic, they will queue on the same line with older people, and are often criticised for requiring services, such as contraception.”

He also recalled the existence of youth development forums in wards, which he said are not in place anymore.

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