In view of the sweeping political and social changes in South Africa, the Human Sciences Research Council and other agencies established the Co-operative Research Programme: South African Youth, a program to undertake research on the problems, challenges, and opportunities facing South African youth. This report presents the information base of data, summaries of contract and other research reports, including a survey of a national sample of South African youth, four task group reports, some relevant publications, and input by members of the program's steering committee. The report should be seen as an extended policy recommendation document, rather than as a comprehensive research report. Chapter 1 provides background on a number of youth issues. Chapter 2 contextualizes South African youth in the country's changing society. Chapters 3 through 6 deal with social and cultural life, education, the economy, and politics. Chapter 7 offers general policy principles and recommendations, and chapter 8 discusses proposed structures for the implementation of a youth policy. An appendix contains summaries of the 45 contract and research reports. (Contains 19 tables, 1 figure, and 161 references.) (SLD)