Deputy President Paul Mashatile says the youth is under the enormous strain of unemployment and dire poverty and the government cannot help them alone. He said the rising number of unemployment among the youth needs the private sector to pull its weight and create job opportunities as the government will soon open a portal of two million jobs.
YOUNG BOYS ARE SUFFERING
Speaking at the National Youth Development Agency investment roundtable on Thursday, Mashatile revealed that more males than females dropped out of school because of child-headed households. He said it was concerning because the pressure to provide is carried by young boys who are supposed to go to school instead of dropping out and looking for odd jobs so they can afford a bag of mealie meal. "The school dropout rate is of particular concern because students who drop out of school prematurely will experience a lack of access to higher education, fewer job opportunities and lower wages than their peers who finished their schooling. The top reason for males not attending school was poor academic performance, with large gender disparity in family commitment as a reason for no attendance."
THEY'VE GIVEN UP
A great number of young people have given up looking for jobs with claims that it is emotionally draining and damaging. Speaking to ZiMoja, a journalism graduate from Katlehong Lerato Mofokeng said ever since she graduated in 2016 she has never been permanently employed. She said she was once accepted into a government internship programme and that was it. "I was excited in 2020 when I got that internship because I believed it was the end of my problems. I worked hard and travelled a lot because it was a communications internship. Unfortunately, when the internship was done, they let me go and to this day I'm still looking for a job. To be honest, I don't think I'll ever find one, and got tired of buying data to apply for jobs I don't get," she said. Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke gave the stats on the state of youth unemployment for the second quarter of 2023. The youth remain vulnerable in the labour market, with approximately 3,7 million (36,1%) out of 10,2 million young people aged 15-24 not in employment, education or training.
