Better SA possible if youth receive the support they need
THE question of youth employment remains even bigger and almost insurmountable in South Africa. Interestingly, I have observed that young people are largely energetic, wise and ready to explore the world and contribute to social and economic good. Now, this is the greatest strength a country can have, for if opportunities are made available, the economy will receive the necessary impetus to move forward.
Unfortunately, several things are working against the full realisation of youth opportunities in the country. These include, among other things, inadequate information about youth opportunities, mainly through government channels. The government is doing everything possible to create good opportunities for the youth. That is why it has come up with a lot of friendly policies in favour of the youth in South African businesses, though these seem not to serve the purpose. The allocated funds and schemes are not reaching the deserved youths, so the objectives are getting lost along the way.
I have spoken to many youths and young entrepreneurs and they have no knowledge of what I am speaking about or if they are able to qualify for those policies. Worse still, they do not know if they will ever get these benefits because they do not know how to get it or they believe that these policies are only going to benefit the people who have connections. That is the perception the government needs to change and it needs to show more awareness via media and make this policy easier to reach for the youth.
Individuals are taking advantage of these schemes to enrich themselves at the expense of the youth. So when the government creates these policies they should have youths involved in discussions and how to implement them.
The youth and young entrepreneurs continue to benefit through governmentowned financial institutions like the Department of Trade and Industry’s (dti) black industrial scheme. Linked to the dti, but with its own unique funding schemes, is the National Youth Development Agency. Though these schemes are well intended, in some cases the youth are not reacting fast enough to the government policies in order to benefit from them.
I urge the youth to be proactive by being on the lookout for specific schemes rather than waiting for the government to deliver these to their doorsteps. I am sure that the future of youths will be bright if they work hard and together with the government.
Another piece of advice for youths is to read newspapers, magazines, watch television and listen to radio programmes to know what opportunities may be available to them. Availability of information is key to expanding the intake of young people into jobs and advancing their empowerment and development in the country.
In addition to the above, it is well documented that vice in the South African government is quite alarming. Vice contributes to huge sums of money being controlled by a handful of people and poor delivery of infrastructure as standards are not adhered to. The government is then forced to provide once again funds to develop the same facilities.
Wasteful expenditure
While this usually takes time and retards development that will benefit citizens, it also means that meaningful financial and manpower resources destined for other areas, including the youth, are quickly diminished, thus affecting broader economic empowerment for young people.
The scourge of wasteful expenditure running into billions annually also denies the youth what they rightly deserve. A lot still needs to be done to ensure government funds are well spent and reach where they are needed in youth employment and youth entrepreneurship.
While it is naturally trendy for young people to move into major cities for modern lifestyle patterns, the youth must realise staying in rural areas where opportunities for work through mainly agriculture and related industries can be carved by hardworking young people is also important. However, before one entertains the idea of staying in a provincial or rural area, they have to consider if there are financial resources and infrastructure for them to be able to develop appropriate businesses outside the mainstream business centres.
The government should, therefore, ensure adequate and provincially widespread resources required by the youth, such as funding, expertise and infrastructure, are in place. It must also ensure that budgets available to youth development institutions are strictly monitored across the required demographics.
The focus on rural-based youth capacitation should not be the only solution to solving youth challenges. Efforts to empower the sector through small-scale businesses in townships in metropolitan cities, like Johannesburg, should be sustained.
The private sector must also continue to play its part in various ways that enhance youth entrepreneurships or employment, such as through mentorships, provision of markets for agricultural products, easy financing and market development assistance, among others.
The rise in youth unemployment has the danger of increasing crime. As it is, most jobless youths seem to have given up in life. In 1994, no one would have foreseen the staggering current unemployment rate “among youth aged 15 to 34 increased from 32.7 percent to 36.1 percent between 2008 and 2014”, going by the figures from Statistics SA for mid-2014.
Let’s work together and improve the conditions of our youths. The youth can be the masters of their own destinies when the right resources or back up is made available to them.
A better South Africa is possible only when the country’s youth have stable jobs and descent incomes.
Several things are working against the full realisation of youth opportunities… These include inadequate information about youth opportunities…