Thanks,
Chairperson. Well, the Department of Employment and Labour acknowledges the wealth and the contribution by the various stakeholders in trying to find solutions to youth employment and in addressing the problem of those not in education employment or training, we call them the need. Our plans are based on the observations and recommendations made in the National Youth Policy, the Youth Employment Accord, the Human Sciences Research Council, HSRC, report and other studies and policy recommendations.
As we reorganised the department in line with the new mandate, we are building on the existing policies and work closely with other departments, the youth sectors institutions of learning, the nongovernmental organisations and international communiqu and the private sector in efforts which are aimed at improving of the education and training opportunities to close the skills gap and to facilitate the transition between school-leaving and first employment.
We also refer work seekers with low skills levels after assessing them to the public employment services and to the Department of Higher Education, Science and Technology, sector education and training authorities, Setas, Technical and Vocational Education and Training, Tvet, colleges and other private institutions.
We are also supporting some of these initiatives through the Labour Activation Programme, which is run by the Unemployment Insurance Fund, UIF, and the Compensation Fund and connecting the young people with employment opportunities through other free work seekers recruitment placement through what we call the public employment
services youth centres and the private employment services career centres, career counselling, employment schemes work-readiness promotion programmes and providing young people with the work experience through learnerships, apprenticeships and internships.
We are also increasing the number of young people employed in the public youth programmes such as the known Expanded Public Works Programme, EPWP, the National Youth Service Programme, Community Works Programme, the National Rural Youth Service Corps, Narysec, the youth brigade in the Green, focused on Working on Fire and other environmental programmes, Health brigade, Literacy brigade and Maintenance brigade.
We are also empowering the youth, women and people with disabilities through the targeted set-asides industries and the public sector. We have about eight factories now in the provinces strictly which are run by the people with disabilities.
So, the promotion of the youth entrepreneurship, youth
co-operatives and SMEs is part of the programme. So, that
is a collaborative effort between the public and the private sector to expand the intake of the young people through these initiatives such as Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator. Gauteng talks about Tshepo 1 Million and other interventions funded under job summit and the Employment Insurance Fund and the Compensation Act.
We are currently developing of course, the labour migration policy to assist in the regulation of the employment of the foreign nationals and to complete the Immigration Act to guide the review and the conclusion of the bilateral government labour agreement, the skills transfer in case of employment of the needed scare skills. Thank you, Chairperson.