The number of young people registered on the SA Youth.mobi recruitment platform has reached 5.7 million, president Cyril Ramaphosa has revealed.
This, as young people continue to face the brunt of unemployment as the youth labour market remains unfavourable.
South Africa’s youth aged 15 to 34 face the highest unemployment rate at 60.9%, followed by those aged 25-34 at 40.6%, according to the recent Quarterly Labour Force Survey conducted by Statistics SA (Stats SA).
Stats SA notes the national unemployment rate stood at 32.7% in the first quarter, with that burden disproportionately carried by the youth.
Given rising youth joblessness, the state has focused on interventions that expand public employment, youth service and workplace experience through the SA Youth.mobi portal.
According to Ramaphosa, the initiative has created work and earning opportunities for more than 2.5 million unemployed South Africans.
“Of these, 82% were young people and 66% were women. Through the pilot phase of the Jobs Boost Outcomes Fund, over 9 000 young people have been enrolled and more than 7 200 successfully placed into employment. This shows the potential of training that is linked to employment opportunities.”
Introduced in 2020, the recruitment platform was established through the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention (PYEI), with support from the Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator, Department of Employment and Labour, Department of Higher Education and Training, National Youth Development Agency, Youth Employment Service and Development Bank of South Africa.
The PYEI aims to help transition more young people from learning to earning opportunities, helping them gain work experience and linking them to jobs, entrepreneurship and skills development opportunities. It also partners with organisations that provide young people with additional support and resources on their pathway to earning.
“The revitalised National Youth Service has placed more than 130 000 young people in paid service opportunities to date, with an additional 100 000 community service youth employment opportunities currently available,” states the president.
Ramaphosa indicates that government’s overarching priority is to grow an inclusive economy that creates sustainable jobs at scale, adding that the plan is to move away from training for its own sake.
“We are reshaping the skills system so that qualifications lead more directly to work and enterprise. That is why we are strengthening technical and vocational education and training colleges as engines of occupational skills and linking colleges, employers and SETAs to the needs of local economies.
“Skills are not formed in classrooms alone. They are formed in workplaces, industries, communities and enterprises.”
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