On 16 June South Africa commemorated the youth uprising in Soweto, 41 years ago in 1976.
The City of Johannesburg’s mayor, Herman Mashaba, said that today the youth are still the greatest casualties of the nearly 30 per cent unemployment crisis. Johannesburg today has 839 000 unemployed people, the youth facing an unemployment rate of 50 per cent.
By growing Joburg’s economy by five per cent in 2021, Mashaba said the administration is working hard to turn this around.
“To get the City on the road to five per cent economic growth, I recently embarked on an investment promotion campaign to attract investors back into the City. In line with this, we have increased the City’s target for investment and business facilitation up to R8.5 billion in 2017/18.
“Added to this, we have budgeted R16 million in the 2017/18 budget for the expansion of the City’s SME hubs from seven to 14 hubs. Our goal is to have two hubs in each of our City’s seven regions, where young prospective entrepreneurs can receive support,” he said.
R12 million was set aside for the commissioning and operations of the Marlboro Automotive Hub and the Alexandra Shared Industrial Production facility to promote township economy. “These two projects will also ensure that youth in the township are equipped with skills and expertise which can allow them to participate in the economy.
“We have also set aside R10 million for the artisan development training programmes in the coming financial year, as well as ensured that qualifying child-headed households receive a 100 per cent rebate on services offered through our Expanded Social Package.”
Mashaba added that another issue plaguing not only the youth, is drug abuse. He said the newly established K9 Narcotics and Tactical Unit has made significant advances, recovering 100kg of drugs up to May. The fight against drug abuse cannot, however, exclusively be focused on policing, and has to involve prevention and care for the victims of this deadly trade.
To this end, R30 million was allocated to capacitate five drug rehabilitation centres using existing city facilities. At these facilities, trained health professionals will be able to administer rehabilitative medical services to victims of the drug trade. A dedicated hotline will also be set up for these services.
The mayor said the administration is dedicated to ensuring that the legacy of the youth of 1976 is honoured.
“By running programmes that tackle the challenges faced by our young people of today, we are ensuring that we also leave a legacy that young people, 41 years from today, can be proud of. ”
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