MEDIA STATEMENT
BY THE
INKATHA FREEDOM PARTY
IFPYB - SA's Youth Unemployment A Crisis
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South Africa's youth unemployment figures paint a dismal picture - there were 2,4-million unemployed people under 30 in the second quarter of this year, compared to 1,7-million aged 30 or over. The unemployment rate for those under 30 was 39%, compared with 15% for those over 30. The official unemployment rate counts people who are actively looking for paid work. If we include those who want a job but have given up looking, the figures are even more dire. About 47% of young people under 30, or 3,2-million, were unemployed by this definition, compared with 20% of those over 30. While the Inkatha Freedom Party Youth Brigade (IFPYB) acknowledges that since 1994 the South African government has embarked on several initiatives aimed at increasing the labour absorption capacity of young people, the IFPYB believes that not enough is being done to address this crisis. "Youth unemployment is indeed a crisis, and this crisis needs solutions. We are therefore calling on government to urgently commission an audit of government departments, so that we can establish how many young people are given employment opportunities in government departments. I am sure that we will be shocked to find that only a very small percentage of young people are employed in these departments," said Pat Lebenya-Ntanzi MP, the acting chairperson of the IFP Youth Brigade. The IFPYB believes that such an audit will help government to develop policy on youth employment in government departments. "The IFPYB is calling on the newly established National Youth Development Agency to ensure that they launch, as a matter of urgency, a number of youth employment initiatives which must address the core issues of job training and placement, market analysis and entrepreneurship. We contend that the failure to act decisively on this issue will ultimately lead to a much greater youth unemployment crisis," said Lebenya-Ntanzi. She added: "Lastly we call on government to develop policy which must force government departments to employ a targeted percentage of young people across all departments. Youth unemployment must be made a national priority and we urge government to invest in today's youth by making more resources and opportunities available to them." Contact:
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