Statement by Deputy Minister Buti Manamela on the occasion of the press conference to outline the achievements of the NYDA in the 2014/15 financial year, Johannesburg
Chairperson of the NYDA board, Mr Yershen Pillay
CEO of the NYDA, Mr Khathu Ramukumba,
CFO of the NYDA Mr Waseem Carrim, Members of the media;
Today we have reached a significant milestone. We celebrate the NYDA as a fully compliant public entity. Today the resources for youth development are safeguarded and we are confident that it is the beginning of many more clean audits to come.
It is not enough that we just speak of a clean audit opinion, what is more important is what it means to young people and their development. What do the figures mean?
Performance
- 62 916 aspiring and established young entrepreneurs were supported through the NYDA Business Development Support programme, an overachievement of the initial target.
- 1 034 youth-owned enterprises received NYDA grant funding. A total of 532 enterprises were supported. Of the supported youth-owned enterprises, 87 are youth-owned cooperatives. A total of 502 individual youth were supported. The 106.8% overachievement was due to the approach used in graduating the businesses by introducing 3 thresholds of R1000 to R10 000, R10 001 to R50 000 and R50 001 to R100 000. As the threshold with which young people can apply for funding.
- 300 students were able to register and study at institutions of higher learning after qualifying for the prestigious Solomon Mahlangu Scholarship.
- 5 319 young people were provided with Second Chance Matric Rewrite opportunities. The contribution by ETDP SETA to the value of R3.6m assisted greatly to ensure that the target is achieved and exceeded. These are young people who would have failed or exited the education system and then came back to register to further their studies.
- A total of 937 949 young people were provided with individual and group career guidance
- 12 490 young people played their part in various National Youth Service (NYS) volunteer programmes. 2 342 youth participated in the NYDA YouthBuild programme in partnership with the Department of Human Settlements
- A total of the 4 343 jobs were created and sustained through grant funding, cooperatives and business development services. The grants disbursed to Micro enterprises accounts for 1 078 of the annual attainment while the jobs sustained through the voucher programme accounts for 1 181 of the annual target.
- During the period under review, a total of 4 248 young people were placed in job opportunities.
- 34 019 young people were supported through the NYDA job preparedness programme.
- 23 393 young people supported through the NYDA life skills programme.
The NYDA has reduced its irregular expenditure from R62 million during the 2012/2013 financial year to R16,7 million in the 2013/2014 financial year, to R580 000 in the 2014/2015 financial year. This is a significant achievement as it means that more resources can be channelled to youth development projects and services.
There was a reduction in matters of non-compliance from 10 to 0 with all findings related to expenditure management, consequence management and procurement and contract management no longer appearing in the audit report.
Employee costs
The employee costs of the NYDA amounted to R176 million, approximately 39% of the total income value of the organisation which places the Agency close to the maximum 40% threshold of National Treasury. In an environment of austerity and budget cuts which result in lower than inflation adjustments to income this figure has become a major concern for the organisation.
The NYDA has entered into a restructuring process which will see it reduce staff in accordance with section 189 of the Labour Relations Act. This will aim to reduce the salary bill from the 2016/17 year onwards.
Thus far the NYDA has managed to reduce its Executive Management team from 9 to 5, senior managers have been reduced from 31 to only 7. There is a process of reducing managers from 68 -33 according to the new structure. The new reduced structure will be finalised by the end of September. This will be reflected in the 2015/16 annual report.
The NYDA still faces a number of challenges in meeting the expectations of youth and addressing all the challenges that young people face on a daily basis. This requires continued innovation in developing products and services responsive to the challenges of the youth.
The annual budget of R403 million budget remains inadequate to respond to the needs, interests and aspirations of every young person in the country. The NYDA must implement a restructured business model with tough economic conditions. We are however confident that this clean audit opinion presents adequate motivation for more funding towards youth development programmes to reach millions more young people.
I am also happy to announce that we will be opening local youth offices in the Alfred Nzo District Municipality as well as in The Waterberg District Municipality in the next few months. Building. This is in line with our strategy to ensure that we reach young people in every corner of the country with services and products that the NYDA has to offer.
My vision is for the NYDA to excel in offering financial and non-financial support to young entrepreneurs that enables them to start up, grow and flourish. The NYDA will in the next financial year bring renewed focus on the National Youth Service programme as we seek to expand this critical programme. Taking advantage of the IDC and SEFA partnership to roll-out funds to young entrepreneurs. The NYDA will provide training, technical assistance, monitoring and reporting for NYS as a government wide programme.
We are also confident that this clean audit will open up opportunities to partner with other sectors of society particularly the private sector. We hope that it will open doors that have in the past been closed to the NYDA. This audit will be our tool for negotiation. Youth development is everybody’s business and we believe with all hands on deck we can turn around the situation of young people.
Enquiries:
Matshepo Seedat
Cell: 082 679 9473
