‘Eastern Cape govt and private sector must do more to curb youth unemployment’

The Young Communist League (YCL) in the Eastern Cape and the COSATU Young Workers Forum are demanding that the provincial government and the private sector step up to work on the high youth unemployment rate in the province.

 Two-thirds of young people in the province are unemployed. The provincial secretary of the YCL, Zukisa Gana, says they will hand a memorandum of demands to the Eastern Cape Premier on Friday during a march to the provincial capital Bhisho.

“We need now a new growth path in the province. We must give access to land and support young people who want to work the land as much as possible. We must invest in skills development of our young people. We must ensure that all young people who want to start a business to not only depend on the NYDA and other state interventions. The private sector have a responsibility also to invest in the children of our mothers and fathers.”

SA unemployment stats

The latest numbers released by Statistics South Africa at the end of May showed a reduction in the rate of unemployment from 35.3% in the third quarter of 2021, to 34.5% in the first quarter of 2022.

Statistics South Africa’s Quarterly Labour Force Survey indicates that 370 000 jobs were gained between the fourth quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022.

Youth unemployment still rising:

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