Pretoria - The National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) says the State of the Nation Address will be a good opportunity for President Jacob Zuma to share progress on the building of new universities in both Mpumalanga and the Northern Cape.
Last year, President Zuma announced that R300 million had been allocated for preparatory work towards building new universities in Mpumalanga and Northern Cape.
“The upcoming State of the Nation Address will be a good opportunity to share progress on these plans since these learning institutions will alleviate the challenge of limited space in tertiary institutions,” said NYDA Chief Executive Officer, Steven Ngubeni.
President Zuma will deliver his 2013 State of the Nation Address in Parliament at 7pm. The address will be broadcast live on radio and television.
Ngubeni said Zuma should also touch on the electricity hikes when delivering the SONA.
He said the NYDA was concerned about Eskom’s proposed 16% tariff increase annually for the next five years, as it would affect many young entrepreneurs and could lead to job losses.
“We urge the President to address concerns about the high electricity hikes because of the negative impact it will have on youth entrepreneurs,” he said.
South Africa’s unemployment rate currently stands at 24.9%, with young people being the largest unemployed population group.
Ngubeni said another area of focus by the President should be the state of South Africa’s education.
He said regardless of the education challenges that South Africa faced, the NYDA was hopeful that the country could learn from its shortcomings.
Since its inception, the NYDA has managed to create 73 920 jobs.
At the end of 2012, the Jobs Fund made a call for applications from initiatives in enterprise development and infrastructure. Ngubeni urged young people to submit sound job creation proposals, adding that projects which primarily create jobs for young people should be prioritised.
The fund is managed by the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) and was set up to spend R9 billion over three years to create 150 000 jobs.
The NYDA offers several business support services to young aspiring and established entrepreneurs, and has managed to disburse 33 975 loans to the value of R97 293 934.85 in the three financial years since its inception.
The agency has also identified the green economy as a critical space through which it can assist with establishing youth enterprises through funding, business developments services, mentorship, market linkages and also thorough leveraging financial resources from the private sector.
The Youth Green Economy Programme proposal has the potential of creating approximately 2 600 social enterprises and 320 000 jobs over five years. - SAnews.gov.za
