Cape Town - The National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) has exceeded targets for the number of jobs and youth enterprises it created over the past year.
This is according to NYDA CEO Khathutshelo Ramukumba in the agency’s annual report for the financial year ending March 2014.
Most of the targets were exceeded through NYDA’s grant funding programme.
“The NYDA supported a total of 43 390 young people against a target of 37 975.
“A total of 765 new youth-owned enterprises were established through the NYDA grant programme,” he said.
He said 3 370 new jobs were created against a target of 2 500.
“We set a target of 1 500 jobs facilitated through placement in job opportunities, and a total of 2 416 job placements were facilitated,” he said.
Yershen Pillay, the chairperson of the NYDA, said while there is still a lot to be done to help young people, the agency had made inroads in addressing their plight.
The NYDA Solomon Mahlangu Scholarship fund had, launched by President Jacob Zuma in March, has assisted 236 young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to enrol to study at various institutions of higher learning.
He said 3788 NYDA young people were equipped with practical skills over the past year through the NYDA Youth Build Programme.
Over the past year, the NYDA Youth Build Programme employed 100 unemployed youth from Jan Kempdorp, a small town in the Northern Cape, who used the skills they learnt through the programme to build 100 low-cost houses for vulnerable individuals and families.
The project, which kicked off in November 2013, was implemented in partnership with the Department of Human Settlements, the provincial government and local municipalities.
With unemployment and lack of skills amongst young people remaining a ticking time-bomb, the state prioritised to tackle this through quality education, skills training, internship provision and various business support programmes which the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) – formed in 2009 – has been carrying out.
In May 2013, the NYDA shifted its core focus from enterprise finance to skills and education and instead of offering loan finance to young people, it now offers grant finance of between R1000 and R100 000 to individual and youth co-operative.
Making remarks on the annual report for the agency, the Minister in the Presidency for Performance, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Jeff Radebe, said he was pleased with NYDA’s year-on-year improvements in relation to its governance and administration.
He also said that the fact that it met 86% of its key performance indicators (KPIs) and for its new flagship programmes was worth noting.
“We have observed with interest the impact that these flagship programmes have had on the lives of many of our youth.
“… We therefore wish to commend the NYDA Board of Directors and Executive Management team, as well as the full staff complement for their great achievements, but hasten to say that despite the road traversed, much more remains to be done,” the Minister said. – SAnews.gov.za
