Business must help in Youth Employment Accord

Dipuo Peters - Image GCIS

The minister was addressing delegates at the SA Chamber of Commerce and Industry annual convention in Midrand on Thursday (10 October).

"The Youth Employment Accord is a viable and meaningful approach to addressing the challenge of youth unemployment, which Cabinet approved in February earlier this year. The Accord remains a better response than a silver bullet policy response such as a youth wage subsidy," she said.

"In terms of unemployment statistics in South Africa, almost 24.9 percent of people are unemployment and 70 percent of those are young people and it is important that whatever efforts we embark on should be geared to dealing with the youth unemployment," Peters said, adding that the global economic downturn had hurt employment levels.

"Our collective efforts and investment in infrastructure as government and social partners ought to be accompanied by investments in skills development for the benefit of the youth," she said. "Business should partner with government in devising (an) intervention anchored on the pillars of the Youth Employment Accord," she said.

Improve training opportunities

According to the Minister, the Youth Accord that was signed in April is starting to bear fruit.

Peters emphasised the importance of improving education and training for school leavers and graduates with learnerships as well as with internships.

"Young people should continue to be connected to employment opportunities through support for job placement schemes. Every workplace turns out to be a training ground. Youth targets should be set aside for certain industries particularly new industries where young people could be drawn in on a large scale.

"I believe that in the transport sector, there are so many opportunities for young people. Youth entrepreneurship and corporate support should be accelerated and the private sector must expand its intake of young people," she said.

Minister Peters said the relevance and the application of the Youth Employment Accord cut across all government departments and sectors of the economy. She further said each of the role players, including business, should contribute to the success of the Youth Accord.

The financial commitment, made as part of the Youth Employment Accord, totalling R3bn over the next 5 years through the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and Small Enterprise Finance Agency (Sefa) is expected to go a long way in facilitating the growth and development of young entrepreneurs in South Africa.