Government is invested in youth development and ensuring that youth form part of all decision-making bodies at all levels is of paramount importance. Evidence of this can be found in the composition of the configured Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities.
All South Africans will agree that unemployment remains the country’s biggest challenge, with the expanded unemployment rate among women sitting at 42.5%, against 35% amongst men as per the July 2019 unemployment statistics released by Statistics South Africa. As stated by President Ramaphosa during the State of the Nation Address, economic transformation and job creation should be at the forefront of tackling unemployment.
The Q2 Stats SA Quarterly Labour Force Survey found youth unemployment for the 15-24 age cohort to be at 56,4% and nearly 36% for the 25-34 age group. These are real young people who could be contributing to the economic outlook of the country, and yet they are at the margins of our society. This continue to lead to alienation, social inequality, and lower tax revenues for the government. Equally, statistics show that approximately 3,3 million out of 10,3 million young people aged 15-24 years were in the category of NEET (not in employment, education or training) in the second quarter of 2019. The overall NEET rate increased nearly a percentage point in Q2 of 2019 compared to Q2 of 2018.
The shocking unemployment figures are a wake-up call highlighting two factors: Firstly, there is a need for employers in all sectors, private and public to create a conducive environment that allows for growth and opportunities needed to empower those who are already on the payroll but most importantly create new employment opportunities.
Secondly an urgent need for disruption in our education system so as to create pathways for driving sustainable employment and entrepreneurship.
How can we contribute to a national agenda for solving youth unemployment?
The fact that youth unemployment has reached crisis proportions is well known. In the last State of the Nations Address, the President clearly articulate that, with regard to youth unemployment, we have to run faster just to remain in the same place. This implies that in order to make a real dent in reducing youth unemployment, various interventions from all sectors of society must be integrated and upscaled to create new jobs and promote multiple pathways into the job market. This must happen in an age of more automation and the blurring of lines between man and machine, which is having an impact across various sectors including logistics, healthcare, services industries etc. We are talking about the 4th Industrial Revolution.
Public-Private Partnerships
There has been great endorsements and partnerships between government and the private sector in accelerating solutions for youth employment in South Africa. We need to focus at programs such as the Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator and the Youth Employment Services which are generating meaningful solutions to the unemployment rate.
However, we need more of these private-public partnerships to solve unemployment in the country. That is why we continue the clarion call especially for big businesses to budget for the inclusion and development of these new entrance because without an adequate budget, they will not succeed.
Emphasis on the value of Education Education is still critical for young people’s prospects of participating in the South African labour market. However, the graduate unemployment rate is still a worrying trend despite it being lower than the rate of those who are unskilled. To emphasize the value of education to our youth, employers need to ensure total extinction of graduate unemployment phenomenon. Therefore, I wish to appeal to all partner organisations, and in particular Harambee, to come on board in developing effective strategies of offering young people a comprehensive package of support services, such as literacy and remedial education; vocational and job-readiness training; job search assistance and career guidance and counselling; and social support and workplace training. We also need to make our services visible and accessible in order to protect our youth from being targeted by unscrupulous persons who claim to be able to secure employment for them for some form of payment.
The scale of the problem of youth unemployment, as well as the systemic barriers that constrain the effective inclusion of young people into the economy, require an additional focus on supporting youth pathways into the economy. That why I am honored to be a part of programmes such as this, which are critical for showcasing innovative solutions, building collaborations across industries, and promoting evidence based planning. There is no time like the present to crunch some numbers, create a strategy and become more proactive in combating youth employment.
I want to focus some of my time on the barriers to youth employment in our country:
Contribution of Economic Sectors
Like other advanced economies, the SA economy has transformed from the one driven mainly by primary and secondary sectors (e.g. agriculture, mining, manufacturing industry), to the one driven by stronger tertiary sectors involved in providing a service (e.g. teaching, nursing, Information Technology, financial industry). The truth is that jobs in the tertiary sector require different skills set which many young people do not immediately possess. It is important that there should be continued increase in new and modern work opportunities for the youth. As part of the process for developing a new skilled workforce in South Africa, there needs to be an emphasis on developing the skills and knowledge of young people in the areas of the 4th Industrial Revolution, such as in: compulsory digital skills training at primary and tertiary levels digital marketing, coding, 3D printing; artificial intelligence; robotics; autonomous vehicle and broader internet of things.
Another factor to consider is that, there remains skills mismatch between the “demand and supply side of the labour market contribute to the high rates of unemployment in general, and of youth unemployment in particular”1. This speaks to the type of graduate churned out by the education system as well as the type of skills required by the market. Many studies have confirmed the existence of many vacancies, especially in the artisanal careers.
Spatial Justice
There is a need to look at ensuring spatial justice in the country, because many young people, especially in rural areas, live far from where most jobs are located. This means youth spend large amounts of capital on work seeking, yet they simultaneously lack the income to invest in these costs (De Lannoy et al., 2018). We need to ensure sufficient work seeker support, more specifically for young people. This must include offering some form of minimal pay to enable young people to access places in search for work opportunities. Initiatives by Harambee and the National Rural Youth Service Corps programme to help support young people in this regard is applauded. National Rural Youth Service Corps programme is generating meaningful solutions to the unemployment rate. The National Rural Youth Service will provide young rural people with opportunities to create employment
1 De Lannoy, A., Graham, L., Patel, L., & Leibbrandt, M. (2018). WHAT DRIVES YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT AND WHAT INTERVENTIONS HELP?. A Systematic Overview of the Evidence and a Theory of Change. High-level Overview Report. Cape Town: REDI 3X3.
Encourage Entrepreneurship
There is a general low appetite for starting businesses in the country. This is probably linked to the high failure rate of businesses in the country. Only 15% of South African start-ups are successful, despite South Africa having the 2nd highest ranking on the continent according to the 2018 Global Entrepreneurship Index2. Some of the issues contributing to this Total Low Entrepreneurial Activity, include: limited start-up funding; limited access to markets; the need for mentoring and coaching; as well as technological support. But funding is just the start, there needs to be a focus on linking schools, universities and employers together. It’s no secret that entrepreneurs are pivotal to creating wealth and driving economic growth, innovation and employment. With the latest pronouncement by the President for greater support of small businesses, there has never been more support for entrepreneurs.
It is on this basis that our department is one of the key role players advocating for introduction of compulsory entrepreneurship education from primary, secondary to tertiary school levels, geared towards inculcating a culture of entrepreneurship. Teaching children the skills to start, manage and operate their own businesses would be the first step in creating a more independent and driven generation of youth in our country. Therefore, making schools and institutions of higher learning to take responsibility for developing the entrepreneurship skills, it is clearly about making the transition of the world of school to the world of work easier – because our youth need these skills to enter the workforce.
2 https://www.experthub.info/news/experthub-today/state-of-entrepreneursh…
Conclusion
In closing, let me mention that both public and private resources need to be optimally coordinated and directed to focus on improved impact and outcomes (e.g. the conversion rates of TVET graduates and matriculants into work, and the proportion of higher value jobs and enterprise opportunities that are accessed by economically excluded youth). The NYDA’s Grant Programme is a good start. It is designed to provide young entrepreneurs with an opportunity to access both financial and non-financial business development support in order to enable them to establish or grow their businesses.
The Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities will continue to advocate and optimally coordinate the efforts of all role players, in order to advance the country’s Youth Economic Empowerment Agenda. This will include making economic policy provisions in national instruments such as the National Youth Policy and the draft Mainstreaming Guidelines for Youth Responsive Planning, Budgeting, Monitoring, Evaluation and Auditing.
I thank you.
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