NYDA spends R10m on fish and chips

The newly appointed executive chairman of the NYDA, Yershen Pillay said 100 young people had been picked, with the assistance of the Department of Trade and Industry, to participate in the fish-and-chips co-operative.

"We received numerous requests from young people who were interested in The Real fish-and-chips franchise and responded to this need," he said.

Taste Holdings' chief executive Carlo Gonzaga said there was room for new fish-and-chips outlets adding that he doesn't believe the market is anywhere near saturation point.

Gonzaga's company owns Fish & Chip Co, another franchise, with 310 outlets. A Fish & Chip Co franchise sells for R500,000. He said fish-and-chips had been a "massively under-reported" food category and that there was still a lot of room for branded shops.

Each fish-and-chips franchisee will get a R70,000 grant from the agency and a further R350,000 from the Department of Trade and Industry to set up shop.

"The [businesses] will only be operational after three months because members still have to go through training and receive business-development support services," Pillay said.

This is the first major project by the agency since President Jacob Zuma appointed a new executive board in March.

The NYDA came under scrutiny because of its high staff costs, for giving jobs to friends in the ANC Youth League and for splurging R106m on a youth festival in 2010. In his 2011/12 annual report, auditor-general Terence Nombembe noted that the YDA had irregular expenditure of R133m.