Research questions were developed to analyze the vertical and horizontal impact of policies at the local level and ask: What measures within national youth policies and strategies have been put in place to address barriers to youth employability in South Africa. The first research question asks what measures within national youth policies and strategies have been put in place to address barriers to youth employability in South Africa.
Youth in the labour market
South Africa's workforce is burdened by the economically inactive people of working age. Using the South African definition of youth, 5.5 million, or 69.6% of the 7.9 million unemployed in South Africa are youth.
Addressing marginalised youth
However, due to the legacy of apartheid in South Africa, this is not the case. Dias and Posel (2007) investigate the relationship between education and the likelihood of obtaining or finding work in South Africa.
International policies for youth development
This encourages efforts to create societies that empower young people as productive members of society and include young people at "all levels of decision-making and development". The charter includes principles and values for youth development, which include: development that includes gender equality, empowerment, human rights, sustainability and the inclusion of youth development in all local, provincial, national and international activities. Although their approaches to youth development are aimed at providing advocacy and motivation for countries, they all seem to agree that youth empowerment takes place through a few key initiatives: most importantly through access to quality education and employment opportunities.
Selected approaches
However, the argument for a comprehensive approach to youth is actually synergistic with that of the ILO model. From this approach, PATPs are explored in this study within the context of a life cycle approach to youth employment.
Linking approaches
Supply-side mechanisms are types of programs and services that equip youth for employment. Relevant up-to-date and easily accessible market information can guide the future decisions of young people which in turn will begin to fill the gaps in the skills shortage that plagues the current labor market.
Institutional analysis
The Municipal Systems of Local Government Act (2000) empowers municipalities to influence the socio-economic capacity of the local community by coordinating activities that meet the basic needs of the poor and help grow the local economy. The following analysis evaluates two national youth policies to assess their implementation from national to local level.
Summary and research questions
This research provides an analysis of South Africa's youth employment policy and its implementation in eThekwini Local Municipality. What approaches have been taken to encourage youth employment at the local level and what challenges exist in these approaches.
Research methods
An additional tool used to visualize relationships at the local level is provided in an institutional map. Based on the findings discussed by the key stakeholders interviewed, the "map" illustrates the relationships between the various institutions and highlights areas of linkages and gaps.
Location of Study
According to the Economic Development Strategy of the municipality, 34.4% of the working age population are almost unemployed. National unemployment rates yield similar findings with black women being the highest unemployed group. The EMA has a well-structured municipality with a substantial budget and provides a relatively close representation of the South African population and employment situation.
It was because of these reasons, as well as the reality that I was already physically located in Durban, that the EMA was chosen for this study.
Limitations to the study
Finally, as mentioned earlier, youth in South Africa are considered to be between the ages of 14 and 35. This study, where it can, differentiates between these two groups as well as between the youth over 24. However, this becomes difficult and creates restrictions on the scope of reporting as the majority of youth-oriented services in South Africa, with the exception of education, do not break down services for age cohorts within "youth".
Choice, development and implementation of the interview
The role of the CPU is to ensure that policies and systems are in place to ensure citizen participation in the municipality's programs. The CPU is the conduit of the city's Youth Desk and from here on advocates for young people throughout the EMA. It was reiterated in the consensus that all questions were asked to the respondent as a representative of his department or organization.
All interviews were conducted in the interviewee's offices and I tried to encourage a relaxed and open interview style.
History of youth and employment policy in South Africa (1976 – 2008)
The purpose of the centers was to provide skills training to workers and the unemployed. The summit led to the amendment of the Skills Development Act and the EPWP programme. Ten years after its creation, on May 16, 2006, a public statement from NYC discussed "the shortcomings of the current state of youth development." The statement highlighted the lack of policy implementation and the lack of provisions for NYC to intervene in the event that agencies fail to comply with the NYP.
According to the HSRC, the South African youth policy has been praised as one of the most comprehensive in the world.
Vertical analysis of youth policies in South Africa
The NYP recognized “the importance of education… not simply because young people are often linked to the educational system, but because young women and men can be better prepared for life through education and training.” Because every grade 9 who passes wants to go to the academic stream – those who want to go to the colleges are the ones who cannot cope in the academic stream, who are the dropouts and the failures. The Minister of Education stated: “The FET colleges have become central to skills development, and we will expand our marketing activities to encourage more students to consider a college education” (Akoojee and McGrath 2008, 210).
The Skills Development Act (1998) and the Skills Development Levy Act (1999) formed the National Skills Authority and 25 Sectoral Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) – the latter created the tax grant in which companies that have a annual budget over R500,000. 1% skills tax.
Summary
These are moral issues that the municipality is trying to address in addition to schooling and skills development strategies. In addition to the distribution of young people by age, the municipality targets priority groups within the EMA. This chapter reviews the eThekwini municipality's youth policy requirements under three of the nine strategic interventions: governance, education and work-related skills training, and youth economic empowerment.
Before providing this analysis, the following section will highlight the prioritization of young people in the municipality's IDP.
In 2005, a local businesswoman approached BSU to help start a youth entrepreneurship center, Future Leaders. According to the municipality, the solution to this is the adoption of youth and gender policy. The call in the Youth Policy for youth priority to be integrated in every department and area is therefore barely touched upon within the 2008/09 IDP.
The history of the youth desk would explain the lack of representation in the IDP.
Governance
The development of the policy provides a guide for the youth desk and youth development goals for programmatic interventions. Those who were aware of the youth desk were not aware of its functions or any outcomes. This was the point of the youth desk: to advocate and guide relevant youth issues throughout the various municipality departments.
Each EMA department must have a local youth forum directly linked to the youth office.
Education and job related skills training
In advocating for change in tertiary education, the executive summary says: “The issue is so critical to the future economic potential of the three cities that the three municipalities together with the provincial government must provide resources for a vigorous lobbying of the national government to address it urgently. . deficiencies in public higher education in the province” (Ethekwini Municipality 2009, 22). In Durban, logistics is clearly important, especially because of the port and commercial airport. All schools (1,500) in EMA, sponsored by several departments within the municipality (NjZH, Special Projects Unit, ABM) were provided with a resource pack for mathematics and science.
According to an SDU interviewee, the development of the unit demonstrates the foresight of the municipality (A).
Economic empowerment
Future Leaders also provides experience links by reaching out to private internship companies for young people to gain experience. Future Leaders will screen young people and then connect them with private companies for internships. AgriSETA will fund employers to take young people with no experience to build their CV (F).
Young people will then be linked to SEDA or Umsobomvu and Future Leaders will then monitor their progress.
Rural youth
Within the EMA, of the 100 wards, 28 are in the rural areas and 17 have traditional authorities. For now, young people will either remain unproductive in rural areas or migrate to cities. Rural ABM mentioned that their goal is to get more young people to stay in rural areas and become productive individuals who can earn a living.
The litmus test for social EDU in rural areas is when more young people remain productive in rural areas.
Summary
Due to the lack of funds and staff, the UYF cannot respond to every need of those young people who come to the branch. Paper presented at Accelerated and Shared Growth in South Africa: Determinants, Constraints and Opportunities DPRU/TIPS Conference. Maile (ed.) Education and poverty reduction strategies: issues of policy coherence:. 2007) Lessons for the Second Generation Youth Policy in South Africa.
Unemployment – the most pressing post-apartheid development challenge for youth, prepared by the Youth Development Network for the Expert Group Meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, 22-24 June 2004.
Table of interviews
Have you been able to adapt or respond to these in your services or planning for future services? Can you discuss specific 'success stories' that have led to long-term job creation for young people who have come from any of these services or programs in the last 2 years?
