Sekhukhune business expo
UNEMPLOYMENT amongst the youth continues to remain one of government's toughest challenges and the figures have risen up to 26,4% in recent years, resulting in more than five million people without jobs.
Vella Nyoni
LIMPOPO – UNEMPLOYMENT amongst the youth continues to remain one of government’s toughest challenges and the figures have risen up to 26,4% in recent years, resulting in more than five million people without jobs. These words were uttered by deputy minister in the presidency, Buti Manamela during the Sekhukhune Youth Business Expo recently.
The aim of the expo was to understand some of the burning challenges facing young people in business. According to Manamela the department of small business development has been set up to reach out to the youth, hoping to have successful businesses.
“Everyone is obliged to contribute to the development of young people and that is the challenge we must always give particularly to the private sector, so yes, government will not be able to do all of these things on their own,” said Manamela.
With the rising economic pressures and too few jobs, the majority of the youth have resorted to starting up their own businesses. Herman Malema (30) from a village in Louis Trichardt, is one of the many young people running a business. Malema says maintaining a construction business is challenging, particularly without funding.
“To start a business is not an easy thing, you need to have some funding so that you can buy this, buy that, things which you have to use. Like to do the quotations, you need to have a computer, faxing machines, typing machines and things like that, so those are the challenges which I am facing right now. The marketing is another challenge I face,” Malema said.
Malema is not the only young person operating a business with those views. John Nkoana (26) from Ga-Molepo is not convinced by some of government’s programmes aimed at providing assistance to young people in business. Nkoana was one of many young business hopefuls who attended the Sekhukhune Youth Business Expo, at the Thaba Moshate Hotel and Casino in Burgersfort.
“They are just full of empty promises, every year we attend seminars like this and they tell us we need to bring our company profile and attach certain things, but they don’t respond to us,” Nkoana said.
