Africa-Press – South-Africa. President Cyril Ramaphosa says young people being left out of the job market with no access to training opportunities remains the government’s biggest concern as the country commemorated Youth Day.
The country’s high youth unemployment rate was a talking point for Ramaphosa and opposition political parties at Youth Day events on Thursday.
Ramaphosa said the most significant challenge facing young people was a lack of jobs and no access to skills.
Figures released by Statistics South Africa in May showed unemployment was highest among those aged 15 to 24 years (63.9%) and 25 to 34 years (42.1%). A total of 3.8 million out of 10.2 million people aged 15 to 24 years were not in employment, education or training.
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While Ramaphosa said the government needed to support young people, opposition political parties such as the EFF and the DA blamed the president and the ANC for the bleak unemployment figures.
Ramaphosa took his Youth Day address to Mthatha in the Eastern Cape. He also participated in a “Fourth Industrial Revolution Expo” at St John’s College.
The initiative is aimed at encouraging young people to participate in technological development.
Despite acknowledging the challenges faced by young people looking for work, Rampahosa pointed to some of the government’s successes in addressing the unemployment crisis.
Several government initiatives created working opportunities, but not all were solid jobs that could ease unemployment.
The president said the government had launched the school’s assistance programme, which had assisted close to 300 000 people. He said the presidential employment summit had helped create 880 000 job opportunities.
He also spoke about reducing the barriers to entry for young job seekers in the public sector, where he said their services were greatly needed.
He added that lowering the cost associated with applying for jobs was one of the initiatives the government had achieved.
Political parties blame ANC for unemployment crisis
While Ramaphosa was in the Eastern Cape, opposition political parties also held events where they blamed the ANC for young people’s prospects remaining dire.
DA leader John Steenhuisen, speaking in Alexandra, painted a less positive picture during his party’s Youth Day celebrations.
He said the future looked bleaker for the country’s youth because of the rising unemployment rate and a slow economy.
He blamed all the troubles on the ANC-led government, while encouraging young people to use their votes to express their dissatisfaction.
Steenhuisen said:
The DA leader continued: “In cities, towns and villages, dozens of ANC politicians will stand before crowds today and speak about the importance of investing in the youth and opening opportunities, but the truth is they have no right to do so. In many parts of the country, many young people have stopped looking for work.”
Steenhuisen added that for young people to understand their prospects better, they should look at how many people had given up looking for work.
EFF leader Julius Malema held a rally in Limpopo. He told those gathered that Ramaphosa had made it clear during his State of the Nation Address that it was not the government’s job to create jobs.
The president had said it was the government’s job to create a conducive investment and job creation environment.
Malema said young unemployed people should look to this message and realise the ANC had given up on solving the unemployment crisis.
“You are not unemployed because you lack talent. You are unemployed because Ramaphosa has not given you a job.”
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