By STAFF REPORTER
South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa said even though the challenge of youth unemployment can seem insurmountable, the government will continue to forge forward in creating job opportunities for the youth.
Ramaphosa was addressing the nation virtually on June 16 commemoration. He said it is worrisome that 64% of youth are unemployed.
“Nearly 64% of young people in South Africa are unemployed and this is something no country can afford. Young people are the force that drives a country and grows its economy. They are a source of innovation and new ideas.
“Young people have energy and talent. They are resilient and never give up, even when it is difficult. Right now, our economy is suffering from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. A situation that was already bad, has gotten worse,” he said.
Ramaphosa further said the government is putting young people at the centre of our national recovery. He added that it is the singular focus of his administration to ensure that young people are given access to opportunities, so they can better themselves, that they can drive change in their communities, and contribute to our economy.
“As government, we are driving a number of initiatives, some of which began before the pandemic. Although we have had to adjust our plans, we will not go back on our commitments.
“We launched the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention in February last year, just weeks before the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in South Africa. The intervention includes a range of priority actions to boost youth employment over the next five years,” said Ramaphosa.
He said the Presidential Employment Stimulus is another initiative from which young people have benefited. According to Ramaphosa, the Presidential Employment Stimulus is now the largest public employment programme in the country and is the fastest to reach such a large scale.
“In the education sector alone, 320,000 young people have been placed as education assistants and general assistants in 24,000 public schools across the country. Of these, 65% are young women. They are working with our learners and helping to lighten the load for our educators.
“Many of the participants were unemployed before being given this opportunity. Now, they are earning a living, enabling them to support themselves and their families, and to purchase goods and services that support local economies,” he said.
Ramaphosa said through the Presidential Employment Stimulus, 50,000 subsistence farmers across the country have received input vouchers. He said 60% of these farmers are young people.
“Beneficiaries can use these vouchers to get inputs like feed, seeds, fertilizer and other goods they need to produce food. As part of this programme, we brought in 2,000 young agriculture studies graduates to help with beneficiary verification.
“For the first time, we now have a database of subsistence farmers in South Africa. The Presidential Employment Stimulus has also supported over 10,000 jobs in business process outsourcing, with most of these jobs going to the youth,” said Ramaphosa.
It was also reported that around 1,800 young people have been given jobs in a number of public works projects including the Welisizwe Rural Bridges Programme. He said with funding from the stimulus, 1,200 youth-owned micro-enterprises have received support from the National Youth Development Agency.
“Another successful programme that is continuing to create work opportunities for young black South Africans is the Youth Employment Service, known as YES. With the support of corporate partners, it has created 55,000 work experiences since its inception, injecting R3.1 billion in youth salaries back into the economy.
“In the coming year, YES aims to double this to 100,000 quality work experiences. The Presidential Youth Employment Intervention will build on all of these successes. To translate potential into opportunity, we are very pleased today to officially launch SA Youth, the national pathway management network,” he said.
Ramaphosa said this initiative brings together eight government departments led by the Department of Employment and Labour, to form a network that will support young people to find pathways into the economy.
He said they have forged strong partnerships with the Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator and other organisations to establish this network.
“Through these partnerships, we have developed an online platform called SAYouth.mobi. I want to make a call to young South Africans to register on SAYouth.mobi.
“You can create a profile, view opportunities for learning and earning, and receive support through multiple channels. SAYouth.mobi has been zero-rated by all mobile networks so that it can be accessed by young people from anywhere in the country at absolutely no cost,” Ramaphosa said.
The Guardian 