06 February 2020

#SpeakUp Youth Issues and SONA suggestions

Youth Unemployment is a multi-faceted issue, which President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a national crisis at an event in 2019 commemorating youth activism. DGMT’s Youth Capital is a campaign that has engaged with over 350 young South Africans since 2018 to understand their challenges when it comes to youth unemployment and work with them to amplify their voices around solutions.

As the SONA and Budget Speech are fast approaching, we are inviting all the young people in South Africa to post a video with their suggestions for President Ramaphosa (image attached), until the 13^th February. ‘Young people are already doing a lot in their communities, it’s important that we listen to them’ says Project Lead Kristal Duncan.

In the specific, the work of Youth Capital emphasises:

1. How young people can play an active role in owning a space where they can voice their challenges and struggles and put forward solutions;
2. The need for a collective agenda everyone can get behind to tackle youth unemployment;
3. The role that the Private Sector could play to bridge the gap.

In January 2020 Youth Capital launched a Pilot training programme, the Youth Capital Influencer Network; change makers aged between 18 and 35 who are passionate about finding a collective and share social capital within their networks to bring change in their communities (read more here). The training programmes are currently running in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Gauteng.

In addition, our partner, ACTIVATE! Change Drivers has been running a project where they have launched 70 Youth hub stations across the country to provide young people, in the most rural areas, with physical spaces to enhance connections and share information. These youth hubs are resourced with internet, computers, career guidance workshops and most importantly, hope.

South Africa is facing an unemployment crisis. In the report, Ten Million and Rising, the Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE) argues that the crisis of unemployment, described as the deepest in the world, has worsened because solutions don’t address the causes of slow economic growth and labour market policies.  The situation for young people is even worse. Research shows that if we filled up the FNB stadium 80 times, it still wouldn’t hold all the young people not in education, training or employment in South Africa. The solutions that have been put in place so far are not working.

ENDS 

For more information contact:

Anele Gcwabe

Cell:  072 406 7072

Email: anele@activateleadership.co.za

About ACTIVATE! :

ACTIVATE! Is a network of young leaders equipped to drive change for the public good across South Africa? Connecting youth who have the skills, sense of self and spark to address tough challenges and initiate innovative and creative solutions that can reshape our society.

On social media:

Twitter: @ActivateZA

Facebook: ACTIVATE! Change Drivers

Website: www.activateleadership.co.za

Instagram: Activate_za