By Nangamso Mabindla
23 October 2006

BUFFALO City was on track with the development of its youth and their involvement in developmental local government.

This is according to Executive Mayor Zintle Peter, who was speaking during the Youth and Democratic Education campaign, an initiative of the departments of Home Affairs and Education. The campaign seeks to engage young people, particularly those studying at further education and training colleges, on the socio-economic opportunities available in South Africa.

"We pride ourselves on being guided by youth frameworks which aim to champion youth development in our city," Peter said. "Because of this guide we were able to put in place our own youth development strategy last year."

The strategy aims to empower youngsters to become more involved in developmental local government affairs and the decisions that affect them. It also has a focus on HIV and Aids, and aims to minimise the rate of new HIV infections among the city's youth.

"We would like to put this as a complete short, medium and long term strategy for our youth. We also look to incorporate this into our City Development Strategy, which is our long-term economic development strategy. We also have youth advisory centres," she added.

With all these strategies the City, through its bodies like the Buffalo City Youth Council, aimed to involve youngsters in governance.