11/09/2026
Message of Support at the Men’s and Boys’ National Dialogue
Delivered by Hon Sedukanelo Tshepo David Louw MP
Friday 11 September 2026
Recreational Hall
Programme slot 09:30 to 09:45
Programme Director,
The Acting Mayor, Councillor Ruiter,
Members of the Executive Council present with us, including the MEC for Social Development, Ms Mase Manopole, and the MEC for Health, Ms Nontobeko Vilakazi,
Representatives of the National Dialogue Secretariat and the National Dialogue Steering Committee,
Traditional and faith leaders, civil-society Organisations, representatives of LGBTQI+ communities, facilitators and rapporteurs,
And, most importantly, the men and boys who have come here to speak, listen and help shape practical solutions,
All protocols observed.
Good morning.
I am honoured to bring a message of support to this ward-based dialogue. I do so as a Member of the National Assembly and as a member of the Portfolio Committee on Basic and Higher Education, conscious that the future of every boy is shaped by what happens at home, at school, in the community and, later, in the world of training and work.
Today must be more than a meeting. It must be a place of truth, responsibility and action. We are here because many men and boys are carrying pressures they do not always know how to express. We are also here because the choices men make have consequences for women, children, families and communities. A serious dialogue must therefore do two things at once: support men and boys who need help, and insist that every man takes responsibility for how he treats others.
This programme correctly addresses four urgent challenges: substance abuse, mental health, unemployment and learnerships, and gender-based violence. These challenges are not isolated. A young person excluded from education, training and employment can lose confidence and direction. Harmful substances may then appear to offer escape. Anger may be normalized, and violence may be excused. But hardship never removes personal responsibility, and violence is never an acceptable response to unemployment, rejection or frustration.
We must reject the idea that a man must suffer in silence. Asking for help is not weakness. Speaking to a trusted family member, counsellor, health worker, teacher, social worker or community leader is an act of courage. Boys should grow up knowing that dignity includes emotional honesty, self-control, respect for boundaries and the ability to seek support before a problem becomes a crisis.
Our message must also be clear to men: women and children are not responsible for managing male anger. Leadership begins with discipline over one’s own conduct. Consent, respect and equality are not optional. A strong man does not humiliate, threaten or control. He listens, protects without possessing, provides care without demanding power, and intervenes safely when others promote abuse or discrimination.
That responsibility extends to how we treat people who are different from us. No person should be mocked, excluded or attacked because of sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, background or social status. The Constitution calls us to build communities in which everyone enjoys equal dignity. Men and boys should be champions of that dignity, not sources of fear.
Programme Director, dignity also requires economic opportunity. South Africa’s unemployment crisis weighs particularly heavily on young people. Behind every labour-market figure is a real person: a matriculant sending applications without receiving a response; a TVET graduate who cannot secure workplace experience; an artisan trainee waiting for placement; or a father who wants to contribute but cannot find an opening.
We must not reduce these young people to statistics, and we must not blame them for structural barriers. Many face poor access to information, transport costs, limited digital connectivity, weak career guidance and too few employers offering practical experience. Yet we must also encourage initiative: complete the application, develop the skill, seek guidance, protect your reputation, and use every lawful opportunity to build experience.
This is where the Sector Education and Training Authorities must become visible, accessible, and accountable. A SETA should not be known only by offices, forms and advertisements that circulate after connected people have already heard about them. It should be known by the apprentice who obtained workplace experience, the unemployed graduate who entered a placement, and the small enterprise that received relevant training and grew.
I therefore place five practical expectations before our skills-development institutions.
First, bring opportunities to communities. SETAs, TVET colleges, municipalities, employers and community education and training colleges should run regular ward-level outreach, with clear information on entry requirements, deadlines, stipends and selection processes.
Second, connect training to real demand. Learnerships, apprenticeships and short skills programmes must respond to local and emerging opportunities, including infrastructure maintenance, agriculture and agro-processing, renewable energy, digital services, tourism, logistics, health and community care.
Third, make workplace placement part of programme design. A certificate without practical experience often leaves a young person at the same closed door. Employers receiving public support should be expected to provide supervised experience, and programmes should report not only enrolment numbers but also completion, certification, placement, and employment outcomes.
Fourth, remove unfair barriers. Recruitment must be open, transparent, and protected from favouritism. Applicants deserve acknowledgement, reasons for outcomes where practicable, and safe channels for reporting irregularities. Training providers must be selected for quality and value, not connections.
Fifth, support the whole person. Technical training should be linked to career guidance, financial capability, work-readiness and referral pathways for health, counselling and social support. This does not lower standards; it helps participants meet them.
Corruption attacks every one of these goals. When a training opportunity is sold, a beneficiary list is manipulated, a contract is inflated or a so-called ghost learner is recorded, the loss is not abstract. A real young person loses a chance. Public money intended to build a life is diverted to private gain. Corruption therefore deepens unemployment, destroys trust and teaches the damaging lesson that connections matter more than effort.
We should demand transparent beneficiary selection, publicly available programme information, verified attendance and certification, credible placement data, and consequence management where funds are abused. Parliament must continue to interrogate budgets and performance, but accountability must also live here in the community. Citizens should ask: Who was selected? What training was delivered? How many completed? How many were placed? What happened to those who were not?
I also propose that this dialogue should leave behind a simple local action plan. Record the priority concerns raised today. Identify the responsible department, SETA, municipality, or community organisation for each concern. Set a date for feedback. Establish a ward opportunity register through which young people can receive verified information about training and employment. And ensure that referral contacts for health, counselling, substance-use treatment, and protection services are communicated clearly and responsibly.
To the boys present today: your circumstances may shape your journey, but they need not define your character. Education and skills matter, but so do the habits you practice everyday, showing up, telling the truth, respecting others, keeping your commitments,and asking for guidance. Do not let anyone persuade you that cruelty proves strength or that seeking help makes you less of a man.
To the men: a boy is always learning from what we permit, what we praise, and what we do. Let us model a form of manhood that creates safety, shares care work, respects women, rejects discrimination, resolves conflict without violence and makes room for honest conversation. Let us mentor boys not only towards employment, but towards citizenship and service.
To government, SETAs, and employers: listen carefully to what citizens say today, and return with evidence of action. Communities should not have to attend the same dialogue every year and repeat the same unresolved problems. Measure success by changed lives: a learner retained in school, a young man referred for support, an apprentice placed with an employer, a survivor protected, and a household made safer.
As we continue into the thematic groups, let us speak honestly but respectfully. Let us listen without ridicule. Let us avoid easy blame and identify what each institution, and each one of us, will do next. The value of this dialogue will not be measured by the number of speeches delivered today. It will be measured by the commitments recorded, the people reached and the actions completed after we leave this hall.
On behalf of those committed to accountable government, inclusive education, responsive skills development, and safer communities, I offer my full support to this Men’s and Boys’ National Dialogue. May it strengthen men and boys to seek support, accept responsibility, create opportunity and protect the dignity of every person.
Let us move from dialogue to duty, and from duty to measurable action.
I thank you.
Men’s and Boys’ National Dialogue | 11 September 2026 | Hon S T D Louw MP •
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