Call to place young people in critical infrastructure projects

Minister in the Presidency responsible for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Sindisiwe Chikunga, has emphasised that every project, from ideation to implementation, must include the upskilling, reskilling, and placement of young people, through emerging industrialist apprenticeships.

Chikunga was speaking at the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) and the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention (PYEI) learning event on youth unemployment crisis and gender equity.

“The country is currently facing a situation where serious infrastructure projects, from small harbours development, rail, road, and rural bridge construction to human settlements projects, water sanitation projects, and energy, are in [the] pipeline. It is about time that we insist that no labour is imported for these projects while unemployed graduates are sitting at home,” Chikunga said at Thursday’s event.

Putting in place sustainable interventions

Chikunga underscored a need for strategies to cultivate all of the country’s resources in a coherent and purposeful effort and put forward interventions that can be sustained into the future.

The Minister argued that South Africa cannot have youth hopping from one learnership to another, and from one internship to another.

She emphasised the need for an emerging industrialist programme that reaches every corner of the country.

“These interventions should, in line with our DDM (District Development Model), be implemented at national, provincial and local levels by government, parastatals, organisations within civil society and the private sector working within the framework of reconstruction and development.

“In order to respond in a more purposeful way, we are called upon to transcend traditional boundaries and do away with siloed interventions and adopt a more integrated and coordinated approach,” Chikunga said at the gathering held in Sandton, Johannesburg.

According to the Minister,  a lack of industrial dynamism, youth unemployment, the high cost of living, economic inactivity, violent crime, and a lack of social cohesion, are all multidimensional challenges that require what economists refer to as a “Mission-Oriented Approach” to development.

“We are required to set ambitious goals; foster creative public-private collaborations; approach the state as a patient investor-of first resort; and develop dynamic capabilities to adapt and steer the mission as it evolves.

“The NYDA, for example, must be transformed into a capability that is able to gather market and economic intelligence about the future of industry and work; identify emerging strategic opportunities; measure (cross sectoral) impact of policies; enhance our ability to spot risks/opportunities; increase our ability to anticipate and adapt; and support new agents of systemic socio-economic change.”

Research capability 

She also challenged the NYDA to have a well-resourced research capability that is able to provide situational awareness.

“[The NYDA] must address the questions such as: in light of the youth question, where are we, where should we be going, and what is likely to get in our way [both threats and opportunities], as we navigate to that collectively desired destination.

“What adjustments, if any, do we need to make to deal with the threats and make the most of opportunities? Through knowledge management, we must be able to anticipate, respond, and navigate uncertainties and potential crises,” Chikunga said.

In efforts to attract manufacturing, promote beneficiation and drive industrialisation, Chikunga stressed a need to ensure that women and youth have access to land for agricultural purposes and related value chains. She also stressed the need for an emerging industrialist fund to turn young people’s ideas and innovation into productive economic activities.

She also spoke of a need to engage with all unemployed graduates, listening to their experiences, understanding their needs, and working with them to pursue sustainable opportunities; as well as a need for a cap on the minerals that leave as unprocessed rocks.

‘We need to leverage public procurement to provide off-take for youth and women owned business. We can only do this if we leverage our convening powers as government,” Chikunga said. – SAnews.gov.za
 
 

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