Swedish friends bring youth app
BUFFALO City Municipality yesterday introduced a digital application – Thetha Nathi – that is aimed at bridging the gap for youth development in the city.
With the Thetha Nathi (Talk to Us) app, BCM youths will be able to both stay abreast of developments and events in the metro and communicate with it about their issues.
It is the product of a 15-yearold partnership between BCM and the Gävle municipality in Sweden. While the app is still a “work in progress”, once it launched it will be the latest addition to BCM’s digital communication platform.
BCM executive mayor Xola Pakati said another aspect of the partnership was an exchange programme. “As a city we must engage more with the young people in our city. The intention of such programmes is to encourage young people to participate in the process of governance and put youth issues on the municipality’s agenda.
“We have our Buffalo City Youth Council working with the delegation from Sweden to ensure that young people’s issues find expression,” Pakati said.
He said their focus was not solely on governance but also on daily social challenges youth face. “The overall intention is to encourage young people to raise their issues and take care of their social environment as well. Young people of today use social media and technology and the web-based applications that the Swedes have introduced to us.”
The app will be easily accessible to those in the target areas of Mdantsane and Duncan Village’s youth centres, where the metro has provided free Wi-Fi.
Gävle municipal commissioner Jan Myléus told the Daily Dispatch at a presentation session yesterday held at the East London ICC that the partnership enhanced the knowledge base of both municipalities.
“The partnership with BCM allows us to get to know the local work and compare it to how it is in Sweden.
“During the years we have exchanged a lot of experience and for our municipality it has been good. Now we are engaging youth, which is the main thing.”
The partnership between Gävle and BCM started in 2002 and the programme is due to end next year. — oreillya@tisoblackstar.co.za