AUTHOR: Dimakatso Leshoro
PUBLICATION: City Press - Business
IMAGE: ESA Alexander / Reuters
Young people in South Africa are at the coalface of the country’s unemployment crisis, with some suggesting that two in three people between the ages of 15 and 34 are out of work. The latest Quarterly labour Force Survey shows that 61% of young people in that age group were unemployed in the last three months of last year, although that figure is likely to be about 70%, if one considers the expanded unemployment rate. Bad economic policies, poor economic growth and lack of foresight by government since democracy have exacerbated the legacy of apartheid, say experts. In Soweto, many young people have fallen prey to substance misuse (narcotics and alcohol) to cope with the pain or having no job , and no prospect of obtaining one for a long time. Locals say that children as young as 13 in the township have resorted to prostitution to afford food or their next fix.
Sipho Hlongwane is one such individual. The 34-year old from Soweto had hopes of becoming a professional soccer player in his younger years, but it was not to be. He began taking drugs in primary school and has not been able to shake the addiction. His dependence on crystal meth , a highly addictive drug that affects the central nervous system , has become really bad now, aggravated by his despair at having no job. He survives by washing people’s sneakers or doing odd jobs for a few rands at a time. “My last job was five years ago. Iworked as a security guard, I haven‘t been able to find work since then. Unemployment has affected the extent to which my friends and I smoke now. “But even those who don‘t smoke end up drinking alcohol or becoming involved in criminality because it’s seen as a quick way of succeeding in life,” he says. Without matric or any other qualications, Hlongwane is homeless and goes to bed hungry most nights. He falls into the 15% (2.6 million) of South Africans who lack sufficient food and the 5% (1.1 million) who experience severely inadequate access to it, according to the 2021 Focus on Food inadequacy and hunger report from stats SA.
Thuli Nhlapo last had a job nearly 20 years ago. Her daughter finished high school almost four years ago and is now also languishing at home, with no work and unable to afford tertiary education, despite having matriculated with a university entrance pass. Nhlapo started collecting recyclable material three years ago and makes, on average, R1500 a month. That, together with government‘s R350 social relief of distress grant, has provided a lifeline for her and her daughter. However, given the rising cost or living, the money does not go far. “I’m not unwilling to work,” Nhlapo says. “I finished my matric and did a computer literacy course. I also have a certificate in basic nursing, but there are no jobs available. We’re told to go to school and find a job when we‘ve finished, but after we matriculate nobody will hire us because we don’t have experience. Then we’re told to enrol in tertiary institutions. With what money? My daughter’s sitting at home because I couldn’t afford the registration fee for her to do the data course she wants.”
Zama Gumbi (28) from Port Shepstone on KwaZulu Natal’s south coast does not have tertiary education and depends on government grants and her parents support to survive. She started a laundry business because she could not find a job, but the venture didn’t last for long. “I want to pursue public management or business management . anything along those lines, because it could help me start another business, even though it might not be my calling, she explains. Gumbi says many young people in her neighbourhood have also been unable to find jobs for a prolonged period.
Nhlapo believes government should help young people acquire the skills needed in the economy so that they can become employable or are able to start their own businesses. “When foreign nationals come to South Africa, they come with skills and make a lot more money than we do,” she says.
“We used to look down on jobs like plumbing because at the way we were socialised, but now we realise that those are skills needed daily, and one can make a decent living from them.”
Data from Stats SA have revealed that the number of unemployed graduates doubled in the past to years to 10.6% last year, with 3.4 million of more than 10 million young people aged between 15 and 24 not in employment, education or training. Speaking at the SA investment Conference last week, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the formation of a national skills fund from multiple sources that would provide R800 million to fund training for unemployed young people in digital skills.
Ravi Naidoo, head of the Youth Employment Service, said a focus on skilling young people in information technology was what the economy needed. The organisation has placed 100,000 young people in private companies since its inception four years ago. These are, on average, 12 month contracts during which talented young people are given an opportunity to acquire skills they would not otherwise have access to. There is an absorption rate of about 40%, which is when these placements become permanent jobs or long-term contracts.
We target key sectors as much as we can by offering things like drone piloting programmes. The youngsters can then find employment in coding or information technology, or even in areas of tourism where those skills are useful,” says Naidoo. However, he added that getting the right calibre of young people was not easy because of the quality of education and lack of social infrastructure in the targeted groups.
“Companies have to put in a lot of effort to get them somewhat remediated trom their poor education. ”They also have challenges in coming to work because me support infrastructure’s often missing. Some of them come from environments that are objectively depressing,” he said.
“We find that a lot of these interns are their families‘ only breadwinners, so they’re under immense pressure. Completing a one-year programme when one‘s family is depending on one is superstressful.”