President Cyril Ramaphosa Flaunts Success of YES Programme, Says 100K Youths Gained Work Experience

• President Cyril Ramaphosa wrote in his weekly newsletter that government is slowly addressing the youth unemployment crisis
• Ramaphosa took the opportunity to flaunt the success of the Youth Employment Service (YES) programme, whiich has helped thousands find work
• South Africans are not happy with the weak response to unemployment, saying the YES programme only provides temporary jobs

JOHANNESBURG - With over 60% of South Africa's youth unemployed, President Cyril Ramaphosa stated in his weekly newsletter that government is slowly addressing the youth unemployment crisis.

President Cyril Ramaphosa says the Youth Employment Service (YES) programme has helped over 100 000 people

Speaking on the success of the Youth Employment Service (YES) programme, Ramaphosa stated that the programme had reached a record by helping 32 400 youths access jobs this year, reports News24.

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Ramaphosa added that in the past five years, over 100 000 youths were granted the opportunity to gain work experience through the help of the YES programme.

The president explained that the YES programme was an ambitious partnership with the private sector to address the youth unemployment crisis since many jobs require people to have work experience.

"Many young people in South Africa find it difficult to get jobs because they don't have any work experience. They come out of school, university or college with qualifications, but many employers are looking for people with experience," said Ramaphosa.

The president added that 61% of the youth who benefitted from the YES programme come from households that rely on social grants to make ends meet. Ramaphosa stated that the initiative paid out R6 billion in salaries to the youth since its inception in 2018, reports SABC News.

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The president also thanked over 1 400 businesses for participating in the YES programme and urged other companies to join.

"I call on more businesses to become part of this life-changing programme and to contribute to the recovery and reconstruction of our economy and society," wrote Ramaphosa.

South Africans unimpressed with YES programme results, say government needs to do more

@Edwinn369 said:

"At the rate @CyrilRamaphosa's government is slowly reducing the youth unemployment rate, most of them will qualify for SASSA grant before they get a job ✊"

@Sphoza_01 said:

"That programme is pretty much useless. A person graduates with a degree and gets employed at a retail store through the YES programme, doing nothing related to what they studied and even gets exploited."

@OJsigida said:

"What are your plans with regard to people over the age of 35? Because in this country it's like when you're over 35 you're taken as a useless person and only regarded as important when it's election time. @CyrilRamaphosa we also need programmes for people who are over 35."

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@Tukkies_ said:

"We thank the ANC government for this improvement, but still, there are still many left out in the process. A lot still needs to be done, Mr President."

@Kaelo_Senne said:

"Dude, 100k youth out of how many? In five years? You think that is an achievement?"

Over 700K graduates applied for R350 SRD grant in January, highlighting SA's unemployment problem

Briefly News previously reported that the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) received more than 716 000 applications from graduates for the social relief of distress (SRD) grant.

The scores of graduates who applied for the R350 grant by the end of January are a stark reminder of how bad South Africa's unemployment problem has become.

The number of applications from tertiary graduates increased by over 116 000 compared to how many former students applied in August 2022.

Source: Briefly News