A Letter from the President to Young People. “On the eve of Youth Day, we honour a generation of young South Africans who changed the course of our history. Fifty years ago, the youth of 1976 stood up against injustice and demanded the right to learn, to dream and to determine their own future. Their courage helped open the doors of freedom. The responsibility of our generation is to ensure that those doors lead to opportunity.
To the Young People of South Africa
The youth of South Africa rose up to reject an education system that sought to keep them in servitude and deny them the opportunity to realise their potential. Exactly 50 years later, as young South Africans, you face a different challenge: finding your place in an economy that has for too long kept its doors closed to you.
We know that for many young South Africans, the promise of democracy can feel distant when jobs are scarce, when opportunities seem out of reach and when qualifications do not always lead to employment. Many of you are working hard, applying for jobs, pursuing training and seeking opportunities, only to face disappointment. We hear these frustrations, and we understand that they are real.
Inclusive economic growth is essential if we are to tackle youth unemployment in a meaningful and lasting way. That is why we are investing in a massive infrastructure programme and undertaking far-reaching reforms to make our economy more competitive. We have embarked on a second ambitious investment drive, raising R890 billion in new investment pledges in the last year.
Young people opening the doors of learning, work and opportunity
However, these efforts will take time to translate into jobs. And even as the economy grows, young people may still find it difficult to participate in that growth. That is why we have been investing in programmes that give you access to learning and work opportunities, skills, experience and an income.
One of our most successful programmes has been the Presidential Employment Stimulus, which was launched at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, that stimulus has created in excess of 2.5 million work and livelihood opportunities. More than eight in ten of these opportunities have gone to young people, and two-thirds to women. It has enabled the most rapid expansion of public employment in our history.
One of our most successful programmes
While these numbers are impressive, what really makes this initiative stand out is the impact that it has on the prospects of those involved and the contribution it makes to the areas in which they work. Last year, through the Basic Education Employment Initiative, 200,000 unemployed young people provided valuable support to nearly 22,000 schools in remote villages, townships, dense inner cities, special needs classrooms and farm schools. The programme is giving young people their first foothold in the world of work while strengthening the foundations of learning in the schools that need it most.
The Social Employment Fund, another successful programme, offers part-time work for young people in social development programmes in areas like education, food and agriculture, health care, environmental improvement and safety. Because it is part-time, participants get regular and predictable income while spending the rest of their time looking for work, exploring business opportunities or improving their skills.
The Social Employment Fund
Alongside these public and social employment programmes, the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention is steadily dismantling the barriers that keep young people locked out of the labour market. Through the SA Youth online platform, more than 5.7 million young people are now able to search for opportunities, overcoming some of the impediments that often hold them back, such as transport and data expenses. To date, the intervention has facilitated access to over 2.3 million earning opportunities.
The revitalised National Youth Service has placed more than 132,000 young people in paid service to their communities. These are young people learning the dignity of work while giving back to the society that raised them.
The Youth Employment Service
The Youth Employment Service, which is a business initiative, places young people in quality year-long work experience opportunities in companies across the country. We are also pioneering smarter ways of spending training funds. The Jobs Boost Outcomes Fund pays for training for young people only when they are placed in a real, quality job. It is a model that demands results.
Behind every one of these numbers is a young person whose dignity has been restored, whose confidence has been renewed and whose horizon has broadened. Although these opportunities are mostly short-term, there are thousands of stories of young people who have used them as a stepping stone towards finding a permanent job, starting a small business or studying towards a new career.
Your country sees your potential
The value of these opportunities can be measured not merely by what young people earn while they’re in the programme, but by what they leave with: skills, experience, self-esteem and a sense of purpose.
Much work remains. The scale of the challenge demands that we sustain and deepen these efforts. Every company, every department, every organisation and every South African who is able to open a door for a young person must do so. Your country sees your potential and will work with you to ensure that you realise it. Let us together build a South Africa in which every young person finds their place in an inclusive economy and in a thriving society.”
With best regards,
Cyril Ramaphosa
THIS LETTER WAS WRITTEN BY PRESIDENT CYRIL RAMAPHOSA.
