President Cyril Ramaphosa has outlined initiatives to tackle youth unemployment, while emphasising that government’s overriding priority is to grow an inclusive economy that creates sustainable jobs at scale.
Speaking during the National Youth Day commemoration in Johannesburg on Tuesday, the President said: “First, we are expanding public employment, youth service and workplace experience. More than 5.7 million young people are now registered on the SA Youth.mobi platform. Of these, more than 2 million young people have gained access to earning opportunities.”
He told young people that the Presidential Employment Stimulus has created work and livelihood opportunities for more than 2.5 million unemployed South Africans.
“Of these, 82 percent were young people and 66 percent were women. Through the pilot phase of the Jobs Boost Outcomes Fund, over 9 000 young people have been enrolled and more than 7 200 successfully placed into employment.
“This shows the potential of training that is linked to employment opportunities. The revitalised National Youth Service has placed more than 130 000 young people in paid service opportunities to date, with an additional 100 000 community service youth employment opportunities currently available,” President Ramaphosa said.
The President said these interventions give young people a foothold in the world of work but are not the final destination.
“Second, we are reshaping the skills system so that qualifications lead more directly to work and enterprise. We are moving away from training for training's sake.
“That is why we are strengthening Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges as engines of occupational skills and linking colleges, employers and SETAs to the needs of local economies.
“Skills are not formed in classrooms alone. They are formed in workplaces, industries, communities and enterprises. Third, we are opening the productive economy to young people,” the President said.
Over the next three years, the state will invest R1 trillion in infrastructure to build and maintain roads, dams, schools, hospitals, clinics, electricity lines, railway lines and port infrastructure.
“This investment will create apprenticeships, artisan development, skills transfer and enterprise development for young people.
“The Public Procurement Act gives us the opportunity to use the buying power of the state to support enterprises owned by young people, women and persons with disabilities.
“Unemployment must be seen as a societal problem. All stakeholders in our country must work together to provide sustainable solutions to reduce unemployment among young people,” the President said.
President Ramaphosa added that government has a responsibility and continues to take action to address this problem.
He said the private sector also has a responsibility to help address the challenge of unemployment.
“Our growth strategy is focused on sectors that create jobs at scale: manufacturing, mining beneficiation, digital infrastructure, agriculture, green industrialisation, energy, logistics, critical minerals, tourism and the creative economy.
“Young people must be an integral part of these industries. They must be trained for these industries, work in them, build businesses in them and own a part of them,” he said.
Furthermore, the small business portfolio will support one million micro, small and medium-sized enterprises over this term of government.
“Through the Employment Tax Incentive, we already share the cost of bringing a young person into their first job. We will strengthen that support, because the first job is the hardest to get and the most important a person ever has.
“We must change how we prepare young people from the beginning. We therefore call upon employers to hire a young person and not require them to have experience before you hire them,” the President said.
He said South Africa’s progress must be measured by whether young people are moving from school to skills, from skills to work, and from enterprise support to markets, scale and ownership. -SAnews.gov.za
