By Rachel Mohamed
Youth unemployment remains one of South Africa’s most urgent challenges. President Cyril Ramaphosa recently announced that nearly two million young people have already benefited from the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative. Last week, the government launched a new phase of the programme, aimed at creating further opportunities for the country’s youth.
Speaking on VOC, Clotilde Angelucci, Acting Project Lead at Youth Capital, reflected on the Presidential Youth Employment (PYE) initiative, which was launched by President Ramaphosa in 2020, just weeks before the national COVID-19 lockdown.
Angelucci highlighted the need to tackle the systemic barriers that young people face in accessing employment.
“The government can only do so much. If the economy grows but the private sector does not hire young people, we will not see substantial progress,” she said.
She added that Youth Capital’s analysis of the most recent Quarterly Labour Force Survey revealed a troubling trend: young people accounted for the majority of job losses in the last quarter.
Listen for the full interview:
VOC News
Photo: Pixabay
