Creating youth employment
Government has taken steps to address the youth unemployment challenge. Three years ago, building on the success of the Expanded Public Works Programme, it launched the Presidential Employment Stimulus.
Through this programme, government has created more than 1.7 million work and livelihood opportunities. Through the stimulus, government has placed more than one million school assistants in 23 000 schools, providing participants with valuable work experience while improving learning outcomes. 
Through the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention, government established SAYouth.mobi as a zero-rated platform for unemployed young people to access opportunities for learning and earning. Over 4.3 million young people are now engaged on the network and 1.6 million have so far secured opportunities.
Government has, working together with the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), set up a number of initiatives to provide opportunities for young people, including the National Youth Service and the Youth Employment Service.
These programmes matter because work matters to people. The NYDA has played a key role in assisting a number of young people to start their own businesses. Having a job does not only provide an income – it is fundamental to people’s sense of selfworth, dignity, hope, purpose and inclusion.
Workplace equality
From the depths of deprivation and inequality, government has worked over 30 years to ensure that all South Africans have an equal chance to prosper. It is not enough to recognise the injustices of the past; we need to correct them.
Government has introduced laws and undertaken programmes to enable black South Africans and women to advance in the workplace, to become owners and managers, to acquire land and build up assets. The proportion of jobs in executive management held by black people increased almost five-fold between 1996 and 2016.
