Youth employment remains top priority in WC

Dear Editor

With the youth unemployment rate currently at 46.3%, the Democratic Alliance in the Western Cape welcomes the opening of applications for the Premier’s Advancement of Youth Project (PAY). The project aims to give our youth their first employment opportunity through a yearlong internship programme which offers skills development and training to make candidates more employable.

MPP Ricardo Mackenzie says: “The PAY project is just one of the initiatives that the Western Cape Government has to support our young people in finding work and combating the record breaking youth unemployment rate in the country. Since 2012, more than 5 000 young people have come through the programme and enjoyed internships in all 13 of the provincial departments exposing them to important skills development and training opportunities which help sets they up for their next job and supports them building their careers.

And addressing youth unemployment has remained a priority for the provincial government as more than 600 interns were placed in the last year despite the impact of the lockdown restrictions on workplaces. Other programmes such as the I CAN LEARN and the Skills Development and Innovation programmes in the Department of Economic Opportunity and Tourism saw more than 2 600 experiential learning opportunities created in the 2020/2021 financial year.

The PAY project is open to candidates younger than 24 years old, who have completed their matric year and who comes from financially constrained households and I would like to encourage all candidates who qualify to apply for the programme by visiting the Western Cape Government website at https://bit.ly/WCG_PAY2022. Applications close on the 26th of January 2022.

While the efforts made by the Western Cape Government to leverage all of its resources in support of our communities and our youth is commendable, we need to see high levels of sustainable economic growth in order to truly turn the tide of unemployment in the country. We hope that during the State of the Nation Address, President Ramaphosa will be able to give concrete plans on how to address unemployment in South Africa.”

Regards

Ricardo Mackenzie, MPP
DA Western Cape Spokesperson on Premier and Constitutional Affairs

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