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NYDA is failing our youth and must be scrapped

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Dear Editor

Today, 16 June 2022, we commemorate Youth Day, by honouring the memory of the young people who died for our freedom. But it is difficult for us to celebrate this day while 7,5 million of our youth are unemployed and deprived of opportunities.

Youth unemployment in South Africa is at an all-time high and the ANC’s solution to this crisis – the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) – has failed miserably at assisting the youth to find gainful employment.

The Eastern Cape has a youth unemployment crisis, with four out of every five young people between the ages of 15 and 24 without work.

The expanded unemployment rate for Eastern Cape youth between the ages of 15 and 24 is at 80.7%. For those aged 25 to 34 the expanded unemployment rate is at 62.7%.

Where is the NYDA while this crisis is playing out?

The NYDA is a R500 million cash proxy for young ANC cadres who fail to make the cut in senior positions within the ANC.

NYDA board members are paid an average of R500 000 annually to attend ten board meetings per year. For half a billion rand, the NYDA has absolutely nothing to show in terms of opening up opportunities for young people.

The NYDA should be leading the charge in ensuring that the education sector responds to the economic demands and opportunities which await prospective job seekers. The NYDA was in its conceptualization mandated to develop an Integrated Youth Development Strategy (IYDS). This strategy would initiate, design, coordinate, evaluate and monitor all programmes that aim to integrate the youth into the economy and society in general.

The DA Youth in the Eastern Cape demands the complete scrapping of the NYDA and replacing it with a practical Youth Works Programme by implementing the following:

• A restructuring of the Small Businesses department to include functions of Employment and the Youth.
• The establishment of Youth Works Opportunity Centres across the country to service work seekers and small businesses.
• Allocation of funds towards the establishment of Youth Economic Zones for trading to revive the industrial and manufacturing sector.
• The establishment of Innovation Hubs to service new markets in metropolitan areas for creative people in the Arts Culture sector
• Tax incentives for small businesses to encourage employment.
• Cutting of red tape to allow for the formalisation of informal businesses.
• The establishment of an app that the youth can access for opportunities published by government and other stakeholders.
• Transparency in the candidate selection and funding allocation of Isiqalo youth funding.
• Ensuring compliance with National Treasury Preferential Procurement regulations requirements for youth, women and people living with disabilities in all government departments and entities.

Addressing the youth unemployment crisis requires bold leadership with practical solutions – this cannot be achieved by the NYDA.

Regards

Cllr Kwanele Zonke
DA Youth EC Provincial Chairperson

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Alan Straton

Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Broom Mechanic at MyPE
Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." See more articles by Alan.