Ramaphosa wants to tackle youth unemployment
President Cyril Ramaphosa has launched a Youth Employment Service (YES), to respond to the high rate of youth unemployment in South Africa.
According to Statistics South Africa, unemployment among the youth aged between 25-34 is at a staggering 33.4%.
Through the YES campaign, Ramaphosa says the private sector will commit to employing young people for at least a year, to provide them with the necessary skills to enter the job market.
"Thank you to all companies, that have come forward to show interest in this work we are doing by providing one year paid work experience opportunities to thousands of unemployed young people. These companies will be improving the prospects for young people to find permanent employment and may even be employed by the very same companies," he says.
Labour Expert, Andrew Levy, says due to the expected economic growth this year, the initiative has a chance to succeed.
"It's not going to resolve our unemployment problem but given that our unemployment problem is more acute to the youth who are first time entries into the job market, this is a great opportunity for them. For business, President Ramaphosa is a highly regarded person and I think there is general optimism amongst business men. We also expect economic growth to pick up this year and if they can hire young people, they will do so," he says.
About a 100 companies including, Investec, ABSA, Netcare and others form part of the initiative and will qualify for the Employment Tax Incentive