More grants: ANCYL calls for bigger support nets

The ANC Youth League is demanding that government cut costs to make increasing grants and giving stipends to unemployed youth a reality.

On Sunday, speaking at the ANCYL’s 79th anniversary in Mpumalanga, ANCYL president Collen Malatji demanded the government increase the R350 unemployment grant to R1 500 and pay unemployed graduates R4 500 a month.

Malatji said while young people were looking for opportunities, they should get a grant to support them. Malatji also called for all illegal foreign nationals to leave South Africa urgently.

“They are heavy on our infrastructure, our health system and on everything. “When they do crime here we can’t account for them because they are illegal,” he said.

ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri said the ANCYL would have to direct their proposals to the ANC.

Bhengu-Motsiri said South Africa has deportation laws.

“Any undocumented person is subject to the law,” she said.

Yesterday, ANCYL spokesperson Zama Khanyase said more of the money spent by the government should go towards making people’s lives more bearable.

“The R350 that is being offered is not assisting young graduates sitting at home. We can not bear that any longer as leaders of young people,” she said.

She said the call for graduates to get R4 500 was not encouraging people to do nothing but for those who were waiting to be employed.

“The government should be able to do something about that young person. “We are not talking about them because we say they must be given freebies.

“We are even saying those who are in business must be given business grants but if you are in business you can sustain yourself.”

“As the youth league we do not encourage youth to be complacent, the government has offered many opportunities for us to better ourselves in terms of education.

“There is free basic education. If you can’t enter university, then you can go to a technical and vocational education and training college and you do not need to have matric for that.”

The youth league has been accused of using the deportations of illegal immigrants to campaign for next year’s elections, but she said South Africans, especially the youth, should not shy away from speaking about the illegal immigrant issue because they fear being called xenophobic.

“It can’t be xenophobic when we talk about the law,” she added.