Speaking at the Madiba Banquet Halls in Potchefstroom last week, the chairperson of the board, Sifiso Mtsweni, says the latest youth unemployment statistics figure released by Stats SA stands at 27,5 per cent for the first four months of 2017, meaning that 5,5 million of South Africa’s 35,8 million inhabitants of working age are without jobs. He says this is the highest reading since September 2005.

Mtsweni added that ‘SA remains the most unequal society in the world. What those unemployment figures show is that, after 23 years of the advancement of democracy, many young people still struggle to make ends meet or cannot afford a decent living. Of the 5,5 million officially unemployed, 65,9 per cent are young people. This makes unemployment a predominantly youth unemployment issue,’ he said.

In NW 405, Victor Boqo, the mayoral spokesperson says the youth unemployment rate in Tlokwe stood at 29.5 per cent in 2011 and 34 per cent in Ventersdorp.

Mtsweni said the extremely high youth unemployment numbers have an impact on the economic situation of the country. Analysing the recent recession status of the country, Mtsweni says the country is in a recession because the youth are outside the economy. Let’s employ young people so that we have an increased economic base that is able to take the country out of recession,’ he said.

‘The NYDA’s first step in addressing this challenge is to scrap experience as an entrance requirement for young job seekers, especially unemployed graduates.

‘Private companies have been given tax incentive schemes to employ young people but they are pocketing that money, instead, while young people remain unemployed.

‘Internships in companies are not serving the right purpose of empowering the graduates. Young people are reduced to coffee makers and making photocopies. Start scrapping experience because that excuse is no longer relevant,’ he said.

He believes the government needs to take drastic measures in addressing youth unemployment, like passing a law to put a quota system in place. ‘If 40 per cent of a company’s personnel is not made up of young people, its licence should be revoked. What is the company doing in this country if it’s not employing young people? he asked.

He added that young people should also become job creators instead of job seekers. ‘We have programmes in place for youth entrepreneurship. Young people should not have to be subjected to loans that take three years of hard work to pay back when they could be making a profit instead. We speak about grants; none of the businesses we have funded owes us a cent,’ he said.

Mtsweni says it is imperative that students from poor households receive free education, not loans. ‘In the meantime, there must be one centralised application system for tertiary institutions and there must be no application fees. When one university rejects you, your application should be able to be sent to another university. This will also prevent long queues at tertiary institutions.

‘Registration fees must fall; young people must be able to register without paying registration fees,’ he insisted.

‘In the future, the agency says it will introduce NYDA apps for phones, information kiosks and outreach trucks that serve as mobile offices to reach areas that we cannot reach.’