Hon Chairperson, in the context of low levels of economic growth, the capacity of the economy to absorb new entrants into the labour market remains a challenge, resulting in high levels of youth unemployment.
Compounding this problem is the growing number of youth that is not in employment, not in education and not in training. This situation is untenable, if we are to address the high rate of unemployment, in general, and youth unemployment, in particular.
As part government's response to deal with unemployment and poverty challenges, youth development has been prioritised to ensure that
government implements targeted programmes to empower young people and deepen their economic participation and inclusion.
In his June 2019 state of the nation address, the President said, and I quote:
We will develop programmes to ensure that economically excluded young people are work ready and absorbed into sectors where jobs demand is growing. These sectors include global business processing services, agricultural value chains, technical installation, repair and maintenance and new opportunities provided through the digital economy and the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
The diverse nature of the sectors outlined by the President for the inclusion of young people demonstrates that the challenge of youth unemployment is cross-cutting in its nature and requires action, not only by government, through policies, but by all sectors of society.
Dealing with the youth unemployment challenge requires a comprehensive and co-ordinated approach. This must take into account opportunities presented by new and growing industries across our economic sectors.
In the main, our youth development interventions must focus on quality education and training to provide relevant and appropriate industry skills for our young people; private-sector partnerships to promote the placement of our young people in employment opportunities with private companies; and supporting youth entrepreneurship through targeted financing of youth-owned enterprises.
In respect of education and training, the Human Resource Development Council, which is made up of government, business, labour, community and the academic sectors, has prioritised youth development. Its focus is on an industry-driven approach to training and skills development that ensures that training and work experiential learning are integrated.
The category of youth that are not in employment, not in education, and not in training should be provided with artisan skills training opportunities, in order to enhance their employment prospects. Across government, a number of programmes focused on creating job opportunities for our youth are currently being implemented. The major thrust of these is to provide the youth employment or business opportunities through the placement of unemployed youth in job positions to gain experience.
Among some of the key youth employment initiatives are the Youth Employment Scheme, Yes Programme; expanded Public Works Programme, EPWP; Tshepo 1 Million in Gauteng; Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator; as well as the National Youth Development Agency support programmes. [Time expired.]
IsiNdebele: