By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa will on Wednesday deliver virtually the keynote address commemorating Youth Day, and will launch the National Pathway Management Network to provide young work-seekers with a range of support, including training for work readiness.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Presidency said the Youth Day commemoration will be hosted as a hybrid event with a significantly reduced physical audience at the national event in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal.
“This follows the country’s move 16 June 2021, to Alert Level 3 of the COVID-19 risk adjusted strategy. This includes, for example, arrangements for the Youth Day commemoration, which was scheduled to be held in Pietermaritzburg,” the Presidency said.
The President will provide an update on the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention, announced in SONA 2020, and will officially launch SAYouth.mobi, the National Pathway Management Network, to expand opportunities and support available to young people.
The National Pathway Management Network is a partnership between the National Youth Development Agency, Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator, Department of Science and Innovation, Department of Employment and Labour, Department of Higher Education and Training, Department of Small Business Development, and the Youth Employment Service.
Ramaphosa has announced a new presidency-backed programme aimed at getting unemployed young South Africans into work opportunities.
He outlined how this new plan will work below.
The first priority is to create a National Pathway Management Network for young work-seekers to view and access learning and work opportunities, to receive a basic package of support and work readiness training, and to be matched to employment and other economic opportunities, Ramaphosa said.
“This is especially important for those young people who are marginalised and excluded from the economy.
“Through this platform, young people will receive support in person and online to create their CV and to develop their job search and interview skills.
“They will also complete online assessments to show their capabilities so that they can be matched to jobs and opportunities that are available in the market.”
“Young people are encouraged to sign up to join the network and access opportunities through SAYouth.mobi,” the Presidency said.
Ramaphosa said that the second priority is to ensure that young people have the skills that they need to access opportunities in key growth sectors such as global business services, digital and technology, tourism, agriculture, and social services.
“Our skills development system must be more responsive to demand, in the immediate term as well as the long term,” he said.
“We are working with these sectors, together with the Department of Higher Education and Training and the various SETAs, to create opportunities for young people to undertake shorter courses in specific skills that employers require – either to help them transition into their first job or to top up some training that they have already received.”
Ramaphosa highlighted call centres as a possible job creator as they only 12 weeks to train a young person for a job, even if they did not complete their matric.
It is 45 years since the uprising by school students against the mandatory use of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction and the violent response of the apartheid government. The shootings provoked protests throughout the country and intensified resistance to apartheid.
The shootings provoked protests throughout the country and intensified resistance to apartheid.
Youth Day 2021 is commemorated under the theme, ‘The Year of Charlotte Mannya Maxeke: Growing youth employment for an inclusive and transformed society’.
Ramaphosa said that the third main focus area will be entrepreneurship and self-employment.
“We can do this by removing regulatory obstacles to small enterprise, and creating public spaces that allow businesses to thrive in townships, villages and urban centres,” he said.
“We are focusing on both the enablers that must be in place to support young entrepreneurs, such as connectivity and affordable data, and the opportunity areas that are ripe for innovation – such as the food economy, the green economy, and the waste economy.”
Ramaphosa said that the final point is the development of a Presidential Youth Service programme that will provide opportunities for young people to give back to their communities and contribute to nation building, while improving their employability.