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By OBAKENG MAJE

High rate of unemployment continues to ravage the youth in South Africa. According to www.statssa.gov.za, the burden of unemployment is also concentrated amongst the youth as they account for over 60% of the total number of unemployed persons.

The website said the unemployment rate among the youth is higher irrespective of education level. It reported that 2018, the graduate unemployment rate was 33,5% for those aged 15–24 and 10,2% among those aged 25–34 years, while the rate among adults (aged 35–64 years) was 4,7%.

“Just over 30% of the youth have jobs and about half of them participate in the labour market. Within the youth, those aged 15–24 years are more vulnerable in the labour market with an unemployment rate of over 52%, an absorption rate of about 12,2% and a labour force participation rate of 25,6%.

“When young people are employed in the South African labour market, their employment intensity is the highest amongst the Trade, Agriculture, and Finance and other business services industries.”

The www.statssa.gov.za reported that low and semi-skilled youth employment is concentrated in the Trade industry, while high-skilled youth employment is in the Community and social services as well as Finance and other business services industries.

Even though the South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa shared the same sentiments, he said creating more opportunities for young people and supporting them to access these opportunities, is the government’s foremost priority.

Ramaphosa further said everything that they do as a government, contributes towards improving the lives of young people.

“Tackling youth unemployment requires accelerating economic growth, particularly in labour-intensive sectors, and building the capability of the state to fulfil its developmental role.

“We are also driving this agenda through a series of targeted interventions. These include the Presidential Employment Stimulus, which has provided work opportunities and livelihoods support for many young people,” said Ramaphosa.

Ramaphosa added that this week, on Youth Day, they will be launching a range of additional measures to create opportunities, enhance skills development, support young entrepreneurs and enable the full participation of young people in the economy.

He said this includes the establishment of a National Pathway Management Network, SA Youth, to make it easier for young people to view and access opportunities and receive active support to find pathways into the labour market.

“These are among the priority actions of the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention, which was launched just weeks before we entered a national lockdown last year and which is now entering full implementation.

“The Presidential Youth Employment Intervention was built on the understanding that to address the youth unemployment crisis requires innovative thinking and strong partnerships across society,” said Ramaphosa.

He said government’s ultimate objective is to find models that work, whether in skills development or active labour market policies, and to scale these models rapidly to reach as many young people as possible.

Ramaphosa said most importantly, it recognises that young people must be at the centre of any effort to boost youth employment.

“Young people are our greatest asset, and our greatest weapon in this fight. As we pay tribute to the youth whose courageous activism won us our freedom, we also salute the resilience of every young person who is playing their part to build and develop this country.

“They are the young people volunteering in our communities, building our country through the Presidential Employment Stimulus, running their own businesses and studying to better themselves,” he said.

The South African National Civic Organisation (SANCO) in the North West said it defined youth unemployment as a ‘ticking time bomb’ that needs to be urgently defused.

SANCO provincial chairperson, Paul Sebegoe said: “The youth economic participation is critical to extricate them from the cyclical poverty trap characterised by rising unemployment and inequality.

“The efforts of government departments as well as State-Owned Enterprises (SOE’s) must be geared towards effectively addressing youth development including job creation identified as key priorities in the National Development Plan and reaffirmed in the Economic Recovery Plan.”

taungdailynews@gmail.com

   

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By OBAKENG MAJE

The Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) scandal has rocked the North West Education department. This comes after the department allegedly irregularly appointed a service provider to provide 50 000 three-layered masks to the tune of R1.2 million.

According to the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) spokesperson, Kaizer Kganyago, the service provider allegedly inflated prices.  

“As part of the investigations in the North West Education department, the SIU received allegations that the service provider was irregularly appointed to supply 50 000 layered masks to the department to the value of R1.2 million.

“We have since found irregularities in the part of Supply Chain Management process and the service provider has supplied the PPEs at the inflated price. We have also not found facts that the service provider has indeed delivered the masks,” Kganyago said.

He further said the SIU has recommended that disciplinary action be taken against the official involved in corruption. Kganyago added that they are also going to brief the council to try and set aside the contract and recover any money losses that might have been suffered.

The North West Education department did not respond to our text messages and calls before publishing this article.

Meanwhile, the Ad Hoc Committee on Section 100 Intervention in the North West Province chairperson, China Dodovu said they have met with the law enforcement agencies on Friday to receive updates on investigations into allegations of fraud and corruption related to the section 100 intervention.

Dodovu said the committee received updates from the Hawks, the Special Investigative Unit (SIU), National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the Asset Forfeiture Unit on different cases under investigations relating to allegations of fraud and corruption that led to the government placing the provincial administration under administration in 2018.

“These cases are intense, heavy stuff, like a horror movie, it is unbelievable that these things are happening where people just steal, loot and plunder resources of the state in this manner, it is very shocking and concerning that we had to deteriorate to this level”, said the Chairperson of the committee.

“The law enforcement agencies must save the country from criminality, by ensuring that those who plunder state resources are dealt with according to law. The committee was, however, concerned about the pace of the North West investigations and the capacity of the law enforcement agencies. The Zondo Commission is moving closer to completion and there is anticipation that there will be a lot of cases to be investigated,” he said.

Dodovo asked: “With the pace that you are moving with the North West investigations, will you have the capacity to deal with all the cases?”

The lifespan of the Ad Hoc committee will come to an end on the 24th of June 2021 and the committee will table its report before the National Council of Provinces (NCOP). Its recommendations will include proposals to strengthen the capacity of the law enforcement agencies.

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