Can we talk about unemployment? I feel like young people are not being given a platform to voice their frustrations, there are so many talks around the subject but there aren’t solutions emerging, what are we missing? Why is there so much money spent on campaigns and gathering unemployment stats? What is the root cause of unemployment and how did we get here?
I remember when I was young, my mother used to tell me how it was almost illegal to be jobless during the apartheid era. The police would patrol the streets and visit households to check if everyone was at work and no one was loitering at home. Those who didn’t have or did not want to have jobs would make an effort to hide themselves every time they saw a police vehicle.
My curiosity is how we moved from systems that could enable the majority of the population to be employed, to the point where we don’t even have any systems designed to try and solve unemployment. The only time we ever see the government act like they are lifting a finger towards a solution is when the presidential elections are approaching. A recent insert by News 24, reported that the unemployment problem in Gauteng was illuminated when Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi announced that 1.2 million people had applied for 8 000 jobs advertised by the provincial government. The jobs were part of his Nasi Ispani jobs campaign launched on 16 June 2023.
We are not certain that the 8000 job positions will all be filled, let’s say that they all get filled; great, then what about the ONE MILLION ONE HUNDRED NINETY-TWO THOUSAND unemployed remaining people? Who’s making a plan for them?
How long are we going to wait for the Government for solutions?
As a Life Coach for the youth, I am opening a platform to chat about this National Problem, and collectively work on crafting solutions. I believe there are two ways around this: 1. we can either sit and hope that the problem fixes itself (or the government fixes it), or 2. we can unite and work on finding solutions together.
I advocate for young people as I know that it is not easy to work on finding a solution while you are frustrated, confused and having a sense of lost hope. It most certainly is not easy to start any movement under those circumstances, I speak from experience. Allow me to work with you in finding solutions for the future, because if we don’t act now, we then become contributors to the failing economy.
Are you the affected youth and would you like to be part of the solution?
Are you a parent of the affected young person/s?
We welcome you to share your frustrations and views.