A son of the soil and passionate youth activist of Atlantis now heads up the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) in the Western Cape.
Micarlo Malan (29) describes himself as a passionate, outspoken young activist and development facilitator. From his teen years he has risen above his circumstances and become a voice for youth in the community of Atlantis.
Born in Nyanga, his mother’s death brought the 7-year-old to Atlantis and an uncertain future for a child his age who had been orphaned, if it were not for the foundation laid by his late mother.
In her own right Lillian Malan had been a powerful women and trade unionist who defended worker struggles in the clothing and textile industry. It was quite clear the young Micarlo was destined to follow in these footsteps, and his involvement in youth work grew from his time at Robinvale High School as the longest serving Representative Council of Learners (RCL) chairperson.
Associated with various youth formations and structures in the community, the boy would endear many by his passion, particularly for the advancement of youth interests. This would be clear in his weekly slot on Radio Atlantis, a community radio station, where he would speak on the social challenges youth face. It did not end there, for this passion for youth upliftment and empowerment saw him head-up organisations that changed the lives of young people in Atlantis and at high schools across the City Metro.
It’s no surprise to many familiar with Malan’s drive for change and fight for a cause he is passionate about that he was destined for great things. His recent appointment as head of the provincial NYDA is a case in point.
An agency that falls within the Office of the President, under the Department for Women, Youth and Persons with Disability, it was established primarily to address the challenges faced by the young people of South Africa, at national, provincial and local level.
The main strategies of the NYDA are to provide economic development through youth entrepreneurship, decent employment through government job programmes and socially coherent programmes that economically change the lives of young people.
“It is my intention to take the agency to various areas where there are young people who require our services, but are unable to make their way over to our offices in Cape Town,” Malan said.
“The approach is one of back to basics with stakeholder relations where I intend to engage forums and structure in the community and bring them under one roof, not to ‘talk shop’ but to provide youth with information on the services the agency has that will either develop or sustain their lives and any business initiatives.
“I want to encourage our young people who have businesses, whether it be formal or informal, to join me, Councillor Allister Lightburn and my team as we bring the National Youth Development Agency to Atlantis in the upcoming weeks.”
He says the strategy is to provide information workshops that will take place to inform and give young people access to services that will economically emancipate them.
“Young people, me included before being given this responsibility, have called for access the agency’s services, and I intend to ensure that youth undergo its Business Management Training and have access to its grant programme.
“It is especially rewarding to know that I no longer have reason to complain or criticise now that I am serving in a role that enables me to activate a strategic programme that would see the NYDA itself going to young people, to where they are, and provide them with the services they sorely need.
“At the end of it the honour to serve is realised only when the life of one, two or three young people is changed.”
