Young people in Alexandra met to share their input on policies affecting them.

This consultative workshop, hosted by the City of Johannesburg at Alex-SanKopano Community Centre on November 21, comes because outdated youth policies don’t address their current struggles.

According to Tshepo Lekwape, co-chairperson of the Johannesburg Aids Council, the city’s youth policy was adopted in 2013 with a clear clause that it would expire after five years and then be reviewed. However, 2018 approached and passed without any review or renewal of the policy.

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He said, as a result, it remains out of touch with the digital economy and the fourth industrial revolution, and falls short of addressing pressing social challenges that young people face.

Lekwape explained that there are two policies that should be guiding the city in solving challenges young people are battered with, including the youth policy and the Zikhala Kanjani strategy.

He pointed to the Zikhala Kanjani strategy, a youth-driven HIV national prevention strategy, as an example of how young people have tried to fill the gap, especially when it comes to the issue of curbing the spread of HIV infections among young people.

The strategy rests on three pillars, including biomedical, behavioural, and structural interventions.

Lekwape said the biomedical solutions, such as PrEP, PEP, and testing, have received necessary attention and resources, but behavioural and structural support have been largely neglected.

That imbalance, Lekwape argued, is one big reason South Africa still battles high new HIV infections among young people.

He said unaddressed behavioural issues, in most cases, lead to unsafe practices that result in teenage pregnancy and HIV spread.

Furthermore, he explained that structural issues, such as unemployment and poverty, if unattended, will continue to lead young people to exploitative relationships with older people, increasing their likelihood of contracting the HIV infection.

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In essence, he warned that the lack of focus on behavioural and structural challenges threatens to thwart efforts to curb HIV infections among young people.

“It has become important that we embark on a full-blown consultative [process] with young people. So that we get inputs on these policies.”

He said, if young people don’t do it themselves, then it might get done by someone who will marginalise their issues.

The workshop formed part of efforts, in what he said will become a city-wide conversation leading to a completely new, relevant, and youth-owned policy framework.

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