Abstract
The South African government created the National Development Plan to address the developmental challenges facing the country. Youth participation in implementing this policy is crucial as young people constitute a significant portion of South Africa’s population. The purpose of this study is to analyze the extent of youth participation in the implementation of the National Development Plan in Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni, and Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality. This study used qualitative research methodology which focuses on youth participation in the implementation of the National Development Plan through municipal Integrated Development Plans. The research finding in this study shows that there is a huge void to be filled when it comes to youth participation in policy implementation. Furthermore, the study finds that youth policies play a significant role in ensuring that young people have a seat in decision making and policy implementation processes. The study identified various challenges of youth participation in policy implementation. The huge challenges hindering youth participation are lack of consultations and lack of clear communication from government to youth on policy plans. The study recommends that the government prioritize youth participation in policy implementation and that the government should provide adequate resources, skills development programmes and consultations to ensure that young people form part in policy implementation starting from local government to national government.
KEY WORDS: NDP, IDP, Youth Participation, Local Government and Policy Implementation.