Ramaphosa praises youth employment service for reducing unemployment

President Cyril Ramaphosa has applauded the youth employment service for helping reduce unemployment.

He said many young South Africans found it difficult to get jobs because they lacked work experience, but the youth employment service was addressing this challenge.

The president said the youth employment service (Yes) initiative worked with companies to provide work experience opportunities and had helped reduce unemployment in practical ways.

“To date, Yes has placed more than 100,000 young South Africans in local businesses for a year of work experience,” Ramaphosa said.

“Through Yes, about R6bn in youth salaries has been injected into the economy and has enabled participants to support their families.”

He said the programme was part of the broader presidential youth employment intervention, government’s flagship initiative to respond to youth unemployment.

“It includes a range of programmes to help young South Africans transition from learning to earning.

“Among these programmes is SAYouth.mobi, a zero-rated mobile platform where young people can access opportunities and support.”

Ramaphosa said more than four-million young people had registered on the platform, citing an estimated 61% of Yes participants came from households reliant on social grants.

According to Yes, an estimated 40% of participants were employed on completion of the programme, he said.

“In this year already, Yes achieved a new record of 32,400 jobs.

“Over 1,400 businesses participate in Yes, and the aim is to increase the pace of placements as more companies come on board and more opportunities are made available.”

The government had put an enabling legislative environment in place to incentivise businesses to participate in youth employment creation, Ramaphosa said.

Congratulating the service and its partners for reaching this milestone and for offering a chance at a better life to 100,000 young people, Ramaphosa said we could expect to see these numbers increase in the months and years ahead.