Africa-Press – South-Africa. Deputy President Paul Mashatile says government remains concerned over the slow performance of the economy, which makes it tougher for young people to find employment.
He said the government was committed to accelerating youth-driven programmes to create employment opportunities.
Mashatile was speaking virtually on Friday after his office said he could not attend an in-person event due to weather disruptions.
The deputy president said the economy was performing at dismal levels, making it difficult for the country to make a dent in the worrying unemployment rate, particularly among the youth.
The latest unemployment figures were at 32.9% in the first quarter, according to Statistics South Africa.
Mashatile said there had been some government successes in creating youth training and temporary work programmes.
He added that entrepreneur grants through the National Youth Development Agency had yielded gains.
“For example, in the recent past, the programme has achieved 2 320 youth and youth-owned enterprises funded through financial interventions, 34 209 youth-owned enterprises supported with non-financial development interventions. Six thousand seven hundred ninety-six jobs [were] created and sustained through supporting entrepreneurs and enterprises.”
Mashatile said the government had also provided working opportunities through the Presidential Employment Stimulus.
He said around 650 000 work opportunities had been created, with 80% of those among the youth.
While Mashatile highlighted the government’s successes, opposition political parties holding their Youth Day commemoration events pointed to the ANC’s failures.
DA leader John Steenhuisen was in the Eastern Cape and told a crowd of supporters that most young people had no work because of the ANC’s cadre deployment policy.
He said young people today still faced injustices.
“Through its disgraceful education system, the ANC of 2023 is condemning the majority of young people in this country to a life of poverty just like the government of 1976 did. In today’s South Africa, 81% of 10-year-old children cannot read for meaning. And 33 million people live in poverty.
“Over a third of young people with university degrees cannot find work.”
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