Congratulations! to all those who decided to be a part of creating the vision for South Africa 2030.

The structure, content and expectations of this essay writing and oral presentation opportunity will be explained below.

Context:

President Jacob Zuma appointed the National Planning Commission (NPC) in April 2010. At the inaugural meeting of the NPC on 11 May 2010, President Zuma stated:

“The mandate of the commission is to take a broad, cross-cutting, independent and critical view of South Africa, to help define the South Africa we seek to achieve in 20 years’ time and to map out a path to achieve those objectives. The commission is expected to put forward solid research, sound evidence and clear recommendations for government. The commission will also work with broader society to draw on the best expertise, consult the relevant stakeholders and help to shape a consensus on what to do about the key challenges facing us. Government has often taken a sectoral and short-term view that has hampered development. Taking a long-term and independent view will add impetus, focus and coherence to our work. The establishment of the National Planning Commission is our promise to the people of South Africa that we are building a state that will grow the economy, reduce poverty and improve the quality of life of our citizens.”

Question:

How can South Africa achieve its vision for 2030?

Expectations:

The essays will be based on the National Planning Commission’s Vision for 2030.

Answer the essay question in the light of ONE of the following three areas of the NPC’s Vision:

1              Transformation and Unity

2              Economy

3              Education

Participants need to choose one of these three and then write about how they understand the problem, what solutions they can think of to implement and how they think these solutions will improve the state the Economy/ Education/ Transformation and Unity in South Africa. In explaining the solutions that they proffer, they need to put the challenges in this area into their historical context. The  essay, however, needs to be more focused on the solutions. It is important that these solutions are practical; take into account the impact of the past on present-day experiences and attitudes; and are aligned to and would help implement the NDC’s Vision for 2030.

Workshop

Shikaya held a workshop to provide inspiration, insight and input to the participants. Speakers were invited to provide in-depth knowledge on the relevant areas of the National Planning Commission’s vision for 2030. They provided the participants with information and guidance on how to think about their essays.

A session was held on how to write the essay. They were also given input on how to structure their argument, the layout of the writing and the most effective ways to get their ideas across to the reader.

Having worked through the Up2Us Xperience the delegates began to create their own campaigns.They were asked to address the following: “How do you create a campaign which will inspire young people in racially and economically diverse communities to take a stand?”

The campaigns were created around issues close to them and included among others:

Σ-fi-Education for infinity (Education)

Life (make the powerful choice for prevention of alcohol and drug abuse)

Be a child Day (for child abuse)

I am Blue (for abuse against boys and men)

Hungry for Education ( for Education)

UP2US aims to create communities of young UPstanders across South Africa who stand up for good, begin to DO things that make a difference in their schools, communities and country and actively spread the message of UP2US by encouraging others to take part in .

Up2Us features voices and inspiration from young people as well as from celebrities like Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Connie Ferguson, Ahmed Kathrada, Bobby Skinstad, Elana Afrika, HHP and The Parlotones.

One of the founders of Freshlyground has produced a theme song for Up2Us bringing together three diverse musicians. Participants will engage with their story of what it meant to come together to create a song of unity, hope and inspiration.