Youth unemployment in the spotlight

Youth unemployment and related challenges were in the spotlight at a recent discussion attended by members of the Greater Alexandra Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Centre for Development and Enterprise and local youths.

The Centre for Development and Enterprise’s Ishmael Mkhabela said the engagement was a platform for youths to disclose their challenges. These, he said, would be collated into a reference document to inform policy processes and, hopefully, influence changes to improve their lives.

The participants explored the social and economic challenges impeding the betterment of Alex youths who, they said, roamed the streets without jobs, with some having given up and resorting to crime to survive.

The participants said the challenges were further compounded by the lack of role models and successful people mentoring and inspiring the youth to seek and achieve employment through their own enterprises. They said most successful people born in townships left for more affluent areas and were not interested in creating employment ventures in the township or encouraging and exposing township youths to opportunities.

They urged for the creation of enabling environments for companies and industries to relocate and invest in and create jobs in townships. They said that reinvesting on the economy in the township would create more jobs and improved social conditions.

They suggested that successful entrepreneurs who still live in the township need to be celebrated as role models. Members of the Greater Alexandra Chamber of Commerce and Industry also urged for the development of incentives to encourage the growing township middle class to continue living or working there so that they could be available to help and mentor other youths. Most of the middle class was said to only return to townships on short occasional stints that left no social or economic impact.

Accessible networks were also suggested to assist the youth with useful information and opportunities to improve their lives. Others motivated for gender mainstreaming on youth issues in order to empower and provide girls with access to equal opportunities. A call also went out for platforms that encouraged discourse between local and migrant youth to share development ideas and best practice on youth development.

The township’s high population density, poor service delivery, crime and many social ills were identified as dampening hope among the youth and needed co-ordinated intervention by decision and policy-makers.