Youth fest costs row

Youth organisations have criticised the National Youth Development Agency for saying that R29-million will not be enough for it to organise the nine-day World Festival of Youth and Students.

Agency chairman Andile Lungisa has asked the government to top up the R29-million allocated by the Presidency to fund the hosting of next month's festival .

Lungisa said the festival will cost R370-million.

The Sunday Times yesterday quoted him as saying: "It's very little. The money we've been given is very little. We are talking about a big festival here, if you can look at how much was put by the government into the soccer World Cup".

But Sthembiso Khanyile, deputy secretary of the COPE Youth Movement, slammed the demand, saying Lungisa must show taxpayers how the money would be used.

"Historically, youth organisations attending the festival pay for their own flights and accommodation. What we don't understand is, where will all this money go?

"The National Youth Development Agency was allocated a budget, which I think was close to a billion rands, [but] we have not seen any youth intervention programmes being produced. Instead, about 90% of the budget goes towards their salaries. This is ridiculous," Khanyile said.

Wouter Wessels, spokesman for the Freedom Front Youth, said the government should stop wasting taxpayers' money on festivals that do not improve the lives of young people.

"In light of the recession and high youth unemployment, the government should not waste money on festivals.

''It should be spending money on education. If that money was used to pay for bursaries of our young people, then their lives would be improved."

Talking to The Times last night, Lungisa said the agency was grateful for the R29-million from the Presidency but it was "not enough as it does not even address 50% of the festival's programmes.

"This is a festival of ideas; it is not a music festival, like Macufe Festival. It is a festival for the youth as students.

''In South Africa, we don't look up the word 'festival' in the dictionary and as a result, we only think it is a jamboree."