Government is ramping up efforts to enable youth to be employed in the ICT sector, with president Cyril Ramaphosa indicating plans to train 4 500 unemployed youth in digital skills.
Ramaphosa made the remarks this week during his reply to the State of the Nation Address (SONA) debate at Cape Town City Hall.
He said the young people will receive training to secure employment in the digital and tech sector. Training will be funded by the National Skills Fund, SETAs and the UIF’s Labour Activation Programme, he noted.
Creating youth employment opportunities in the digital and tech sector is in line with the next phase of the Presidential Employment Stimulus, which aims to support training for in-demand skills, as well as create direct links to the demand in the economy.
Said the president: “To ensure skills training is linked directly to the demand in the economy, we are pioneering a fundamentally different approach to skills development for unemployed youth.
“This approach links payment for training provided to placement of candidates in a job opportunity.”
Unemployment data released by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) in November showed the country’s official unemployment rate rose to 34.9% in the third quarter of 2021, up from 34.4% in the second quarter of the same year.
The unemployment rate, according to Stats SA, reached its highest record since the start of the quarterly labour force survey in 2008.
Youth make up the majority of the 11 million unemployed people in South Africa.
To address the scourge of unemployment, particularly among the country’s youth, government has prioritised the Presidential Employment Stimulus programmes to create employment opportunities, boost digital skills and digital capacity.
At last week’s SONA, Ramaphosa said the initiative has provided work and livelihood opportunities for over 850 000 people in the 16 months since its establishment.
“The Presidential Employment Stimulus is making a real difference in the lives of many in our society whose potential would otherwise be lost to unemployment.
“It also includes the young people whom we are helping to access opportunities through the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention.”
In addition, the president previously stated that as part of the Presidential Employment Stimulus programme, the Department of Home Affairs will recruit 10 000 unemployed young people for the digitisation of paper records, enhancing their skills and contributing to the modernisation of citizen services.
Share