By Johnathan Paoli
President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on businesses to do more to ensure that youngsters are hired.
“Just as preparing our nation’s young people to achieve success in this exam is a collaborative effort, there is much more that partners like the private sector can do to hire young people,” he said in his weekly Monday letter to the nation.
Ramaphosa, who used the letter to reflect on the importance of the final matric exams, said it was important to think about the scale of the efforts to absorb these learners into the economy once they have attained the results they have worked so hard for.
The unemployment rate among young people aged 15-24 stands at 60.8%, according to the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey.
“We once again call on employers to relax the requirement of prior work experience, particularly for entry-level positions, and for entry into vocational occupations where young employees can be trained on the job,” the president said.
“Employers should take advantage of incentives to encourage them to hire more young people. These include various sectoral learnership agreements, discretionary grants for skills training, and the Employee Tax Incentive.”
He also said that recent business premises inspections by the home affairs and labour departments had highlighted the contentious issue of some employers preferring to employ foreign nationals and illegal immigrants.
The president called on employers to instead open up more opportunities for young South Africans entering the job market.
“They need to remember that by law they have to ensure that no suitable South African citizen or permanent resident is available to fill a position before employing a foreign national. This is established practice around the world,” Ramaphosa said.
He said everyone had a responsibility to ensure that the morale of the Class of 2024 was boosted by knowing their hard work and sacrifices will be rewarded.
“Let us continue to work together to ensure that the latest cohort of matriculants find the opportunities for employment or further education and training that they deserve.”
Meanwhile, Higher Education and Training Minister Nobuhle Nkabane has highlighted the urgent need for students to apply for funding through the National Student Financial Aid Scheme.
The application window closes on 15 December.
“Eligible students must act swiftly to secure financial support for their further education,” she said.
The minister said the Post-School Education and Training system offered a diverse range of opportunities through different colleges and universities.
She said that these pathways aligned with the National Skills Development Strategy 2030, which was aimed at addressing the nation’s skills development priorities and driving a skills revolution.
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