Minister of Employment and Labour Thulas Nxesi says if all spheres of government work together, unemployment – particularly that of the youth – can be tackled and reduced.

Nxesi was speaking at the Nasi Ispan ("Here is work") mass recruitment programme held at Orlando Stadium in Soweto.

The programme is the Gauteng Provincial Government’s plan to recruit thousands of youth into State jobs, with nearly 40 000 youth already recruited.

“As the Department of Employment and Labour, we applaud the good work being done by the Gauteng government to find work opportunities for unemployed young people. I believe that with the same level of commitment and ambition across government, we can make an impact on unemployment. If all of us at different spheres of government, in all the provinces, do this, it will be a big dent on unemployment.

National government is expected to join the Nasi Ispani programme and expand it even further.

“We are putting together the training programmes which are targeting the youth and we are saying, it’s not just going to be training. Once you have been trained, you are going to be placed in a job whether it’s in the private sector or in government. Those opportunities are coming.

“The numbers that we are talking about, with all the departments combined…we are talking job opportunities that will be not less than 400 000,” he said.

Nxesi said government remains concerned about South Africa’s unemployment which currently stands at 32.9%.

“Government is very mindful of the unacceptably high rate of unemployment in South Africa and the terrible waste of human talent this represents, both for the individual concerned and for the society as a whole.

“Government takes the view that whilst ultimately, we need economic growth to impact unemployment, government is also an economic actor and a major employer and has a duty to mitigate the high unemployment rate,” he said.

The Minister said government, through programmes similar to Nasi Ispani, is making its own attempts to curtail unemployment.

“You’ve heard about the Presidential Youth Unemployment programme. We remember the thousands of jobs, close to a million, which were created. As the department… we’ve worked with the President to develop the National Pathway Management Network to digitally link young people to the work and training opportunities.

“We have established the national public employment programmes… [such as] the EPWP and CWP. We are now upgrading those programmes, including NARYSEC, which is the youth leadership development programme. It is providing work experience, some training and it’s giving astipend to young participants,” Nxesi said.

Source: South African Government News Agency