Turn army of unemployed youth into society assets
Our country is facing a huge problem of youth unemployment and escalating crime that continues to grow as demonstrated by Statistics SA.
Like all African countries we are a country with a young population. A youthful population is an economic asset that has to be harnessed and exploited for purposes of economic growth and development.
It is young people who make up the bulk of the workforce. They innovate and deliver solutions to problems.
It is a problem, however, when a big chunk of any country’s youth is on the margins of meaningful activity, when they are neither at school or working.
This is a problem facing us and it poses a serious threat to our wellbeing as a nation.
When young people are not meaningfully engaged they become an asset to the criminals and the underworld in general. They resort to criminal activities such as selling drugs because they need to survive.
The illegal economy becomes attractive. They cripple key infrastructure . They steal and vandalise whatever they can lay their hands on including from cemeteries where the dead are supposed to be resting in peace.
They become a menace and no one wins except criminal bosses. They also engage in spontaneous civic activities under the guise of service delivery protests, barricade roads and cause mayhem.
The causes of this youth unemployment crisis are many and well documented. They range from lack of economically relevant skills to an under-performing economy that is not producing jobs. There is also a problem of youth development agencies that deal with funding but are unfortunately based in big cities far away from most young people who are left with no idea of what opportunities are available for them.
All of this talks to big policy challenges that will take a long time to resolve but time is sadly not on our side. When one drives around many of our towns and cities one is confronted with a picture of young people walking around aimlessly, some standing on street corners hoping for a pickup opportunity to do a day’s job.
What quick wins can be done to get us out of this situation given its dire impact on society in general?
The starting point should be implement at local and district level youth engagement programmes that instil and encourage meaningful community engagement among young people.
Although it does not have any immediate financial rewards or remuneration this equips youth with skills, knowledge, values and motivation to make a difference in their communities. The programmes also provide participants with crucial social capital and networks that can open future opportunities.
Municipalities can drive such programmes as part of their local development initiatives.
Given the state of litter in many parts of our country, for instance, young people can be organised into local cells that do regular cleaning campaigns as part of environmental awareness and promotion of health.
This army of unemployed and disengaged youth can be turned into a community asset that drives local development.