African National Congress President Cyril Ramaphosa has promised to devise intervention programmes to tackle the “global problem” of youth unemployment, especially among graduates. Picture: X / ANC
African National Congress (ANC) President Cyril Ramaphosa has promised to devise intervention programmes to tackle the “global problem” of youth unemployment, especially among graduates.
He addressed a youth engagement session conducted by the ANC Youth League (ANCYL), with hundreds of young people, among them unemployed graduates, in Mbombela, Mpumalanga, on Thursday.
The interaction is part of many of the build-up activities that have taken place throughout the week, ahead of the party’s 112th anniversary celebrations this weekend in the province.
The issue of jobless graduates has been a crisis for years now. Qualified doctors who are unemployed and other graduates have voiced their frustration with the government on social media for failing to find work for them.
This comes after many graduates and youth have raised their concerns about the lack of job and business opportunities.
Responding to the issue, Ramaphosa said the government and private sector will intervene to address the crisis.
“We are committed to addressing this challenge where we have educated our young people and where they become graduates. We should come up with interventions and a programme that would say no graduate must go unemployed,” he said.
Youth unemployment has become a major issue in the country, which has resulted in young people being involved in crime, sex work, drug and alcohol abuse.
Reports have suggested that alcohol consumption has increased in recent years due to youth not having access to life-changing opportunities.
Ramaphosa urged the ANCYL to fully support the intervention programme.
He further stated the importance of education, encouraging the youth league to go to school and be educated to fight and defend the ANC, intellectually and economically.
He stressed the increasing number of drop-outs in the country, tasking the young league with addressing it.
“Nearly one million people register into our schools; 12 years later, less than half a million of them only write matric,” Ramaphosa expressed his concern.
Furthermore, he commended the ANC Youth League for their efforts in committing to respond to the challenges facing the youth.
Meanwhile, ANCYL president Collen Malatji urged Ramaphosa to expel government officials who failed to deliver on their job descriptions.
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