Employment and Labour Deputy Minister, Moloi launches an Employment Centre as a one-stop shop to reduce the burden on the job seekers as well as improve service delivery
Employment and Labour Deputy Minister, Boitumelo Moloi said the first draft of the Employment Policy will soon be made available for further comment and enrichment, this follows the completion of a situational analysis.
“Our analysis of the South African labour market suggests that unemployment is a structural phenomenon rather than a frictional outcome of the vagaries of the business cycle. As such policy needs to consider a combination of market and non-market approaches to employment and work-seeker support and activation mechanisms that follow areas of growing labour demand,” Moloi said.
The Deputy Minister was speaking during the official launch of the Youth Employment Centre (YEC) in Mdantsane, Eastern Cape.
Moloi said the key to combating high unemployment among young people was forging stronger connections among employers, education providers, and youth themselves to build skills that lead to entry-level jobs in growth sectors.
“The aim is to get everyone working towards a solution. The problem of unemployment cannot be solved by the Department alone; it is everyone’s responsibility. The district development model and the call for joined up government, is being heeded. A number of government departments and municipalities are now working together to find solutions,” she said.
The concept of Employment Centres was introduced by the Department’s Public Employment Services (PES) branch to improve service to the public. The Employment Centres promote the provision of integrated services by all sections within the Department. Public Employment Services branch – which provides, work seeker registration; counselling services; job-placement and re-integration services.
The new Youth Employment Centre is located at NU1, Mfaxa Street, Mdantsane. It will share the same premises with the Department’s Labour Centre. The Mdantsane launch is the Department’s first Youth Employment Centre located in a township.
Employment Centres are specially designated spaces within Labour Centres, which offer services to members of the public, including employers. Within the Employment Centre, there are self-help kiosks, which are online self-help service platform that provide access to the entire Department of Employment and Labour online applications and services.
The online services include: Employment Services of South Africa (ESSA) – a job seeker match-making platform, employment equity online reporting, Unemployment Insurance online declaration and U-Filing application system, Compensation Fund claims submission, link to the Department’s (Productivity SA, Department of Higher Education) website(s), the Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo among a host of services.
Another additional value that the Employment Centres aimed to bring is a sustained effort to deal with the ravaging psychosocial effects of unemployment. The Department uses its network of psychologists within the PES branch to provide assistance to work seekers that require psychosocial support. This can take the form of psychometric screening to identify potential that employers are looking for, and also life-skills advice and mentoring.
The Department plans to establish YEC in all provinces through the PES branch. The Mdantsane YEC is the seventh to be launched by the Department.
The first two Youth Employment Centres were opened in Cape Town and Atlantis respectively. This was followed by openings in Durban, Newcastle, De Aar and Johannesburg.
Youth in the Eastern Cape represent 56,7 percent of the working age group.
Department of Employment and Labour Chief Director: Provincial Operation in the Eastern Cape, Nomfundo Douw-Jack said the opening of the Mdantsane Youth Employment Centre was a joint effort with other stakeholders including government departments, the local authorities, academic institutions, and non-governmental organisations.
“We do not want the centre to be a white elephant. Hence we have formed partnerships with a number of stakeholders. Unemployment is very high in the area, and this facility will go a long way to meet the unemployed halfway,” she said.
Deputy Minister Moloi said with the country’s jobless rate having risen to 34.5%, and the expanded unemployment rate at 45.5% - graduate unemployment is 21,9% and 39.8% of the unemployed have less than a matric, whilst 36.5% have matric.
“A worrisome picture is presented by the Not in Education and Not in Employment or Training (NEETs), youth aged 15-24 who recorded an unemployment rate of 63.9% whilst those between 25-34 years recoded an unemployment rate of 42.1%. I am sure that all of us in the room today cannot accept this situation which threatens to destroy our future. As noted in the National Planning Commission's Diagnostic Report of 2011, the high youth unemployment represents the ‘greatest risk to social stability in South Africa’. The opening of this Centre in Mdantsane, is significant as the official unemployment rate for the province is 44% and the expanded definition is 52.6%.
“We need to jointly own and make the youth centre successful, we need to put aside our differences and work for the common good,” Moloi said.
The establishment of specialised Youth Centres, she said was a further enhancement to labour centres, where youth can have a platform to access free of charge, tools to assist them to find job opportunities.
Moloi said youth unemployment was very high and the damage caused by Covid-19 is wreaking havoc with the economy and its ability to create jobs.
“We know that Covid has disrupted the education patterns of our youth and the unemployed face even greater difficulty in searching for work. We must act to keep young people from falling further into poverty because they cannot access the labour market,” she said the Labour Centres and Youth Centres will act as avenues in the fight against poverty and unemployment.
Source: Government of South Africa