The youth unemployment has been the number one challenge in South Africa (SA) for long now. It is a socioeconomic challenge that has triggered other social evils like high crime rate and prostitution. This problem is even more prevalent among the poor and the middle-income segment of the population. According to the 2013 data, the jobless rate in SA stood at 63% among the youths. The state of youth unemployment in South Africa is a perennial problem that results from a failure of policies.
One-third of those aged from 14 to 24 are not in any form of employment. Since they are not involved in any formal education or training, they also fall in the category of joblessness. The economic condition is to blame for this.
Most of these youths have low levels of education, the majority having dropped out of school at an early age. As a result, the most have poor communication skills, lack work experience; low literacy levels and lacks saleable technical skills. As a result, they are simply lacking the traits that the employers desire. This is a result of years of structural failures in policies and discrimination in different segments of the population.
The policies that had been put in place were all supply-side initiatives. These are the initiatives that address the structural causes of the problem. These are mainly directed at equipping youngsters with the necessary skills required for the job. They include upgrading of the formal education system to absorb more people, targeting-post school training, deployment programs and the public employment.
The Community Work Program (CWP) is a good example. It started in 2008 is designed as an employment safety net. It targets to supplement the livelihood by guaranteeing the job that offers some basic salary. It copies from the renowned Indian program known as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA). It is a program that targets to raise the standards of living among the poor.
The Public Deployment Program implemented through the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) targets the unemployed and unskilled youths. It lasts for 12 months, and then the graduates are expected to be employed in the public sectors such as the police service, the armed forces, and other relevant industries.
There is also the National Rural Youth Service Corps that is being implemented in phases. The first phase was in 2010. It lasts for 2 years and involves intensive training with the aim of impacting skills of those being trained. The graduates are then expected to undertake community development projects and are paid by the government.
The demand side of the labor market is also set to get a boost by various economic stimulus programs. A good example is an act of the parliament that proposes to compensate the employers for hiring graduates. They are also to be compensated for the amount used for training the new recruits. However, the real solution lies in expanding the economy so that more youths can be absorbed by the industries. The solutions are not enough and the South African authorities will have to do more to fully address the problem.
One-third of those aged from 14 to 24 are not in any form of employment. Since they are not involved in any formal education or training, they also fall in the category of joblessness. The economic condition is to blame for this.
Most of these youths have low levels of education, the majority having dropped out of school at an early age. As a result, the most have poor communication skills, lack work experience; low literacy levels and lacks saleable technical skills. As a result, they are simply lacking the traits that the employers desire. This is a result of years of structural failures in policies and discrimination in different segments of the population.
The policies that had been put in place were all supply-side initiatives. These are the initiatives that address the structural causes of the problem. These are mainly directed at equipping youngsters with the necessary skills required for the job. They include upgrading of the formal education system to absorb more people, targeting-post school training, deployment programs and the public employment.
The Community Work Program (CWP) is a good example. It started in 2008 is designed as an employment safety net. It targets to supplement the livelihood by guaranteeing the job that offers some basic salary. It copies from the renowned Indian program known as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA). It is a program that targets to raise the standards of living among the poor.
The Public Deployment Program implemented through the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) targets the unemployed and unskilled youths. It lasts for 12 months, and then the graduates are expected to be employed in the public sectors such as the police service, the armed forces, and other relevant industries.
There is also the National Rural Youth Service Corps that is being implemented in phases. The first phase was in 2010. It lasts for 2 years and involves intensive training with the aim of impacting skills of those being trained. The graduates are then expected to undertake community development projects and are paid by the government.
The demand side of the labor market is also set to get a boost by various economic stimulus programs. A good example is an act of the parliament that proposes to compensate the employers for hiring graduates. They are also to be compensated for the amount used for training the new recruits. However, the real solution lies in expanding the economy so that more youths can be absorbed by the industries. The solutions are not enough and the South African authorities will have to do more to fully address the problem.
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