Youth unemployment a time bomb - Mdladlana
Lindile Ndlovu
Youth unemployment a time bomb - Mdladlana
By Roy Cokayne
South Africa was "sitting on a time bomb" because of high unemployment
among the youth, labour minister Membathisi Mdladlana claimed
yesterday.
The country produced 400 000 matriculants a year, but 60 percent of
them were not at tertiary institutions or at work, he said at the
launch of a skills academy by listed cement and lime producer Pretoria
Portland Cement (PPC).
Mdladlana said it was the youth who were stoning cars and demanding
houses in protests although they might not need a house and might be
standing next to their mother.
"The freedom we gained in 1994, which young people gave their lives
for, is becoming meaningless and in vain. We should not underplay the
potential danger that youth dissatisfaction and unacceptably high
levels of unemployment pose to our economic and social stability," he
said. "The unemployment gap needs to be closed and the only way to
close it is to train people."
Mdladlana also expressed concern that education and training
institutions still produced graduates who could not find work after
their parents had paid huge tuition fees.
Nobody was born with experience and a way had to be found to open up
workplace opportunities in the public and private sector to the youth.
The minister said PPC's training initiative could not be more
appropriate given the current economic boom, especially in the
construction sector, and the high demands and responsibilities of
preparing for the 2010 soccer World Cup.
PPC chief executive John Gomersall said he was sad to hear industry
talk about a shortage of skills because he believed the skills were
"right under their noses".
He said the country's youth might have been undereducated in the past,
but that was no reason to give up and complain about the situation.
"To deliver sustainable profits, we need to turn them into globally
competitive people," Gomersall said.
PPC had been involved in artisan training for 36 years, he noted, and
the launch of the PPC Operations Academy was a special day for the 20
young people who were starting their 18-month qualification in cement
manufacturing.
"We have always aimed to be globally competitive and the standard of
skills we pass on to our people not only makes them more competitive
and enriches their lives but in turn enables PPC to play a part in
building the nation."
The academy would be expanded to include mining skills from next
February, Gomersall said.
Salim Kader, PPC's director of operational performance and
transformation, said PPC was spending R11 million on expanding its
training facilities at Slurry. The company invested an average R10
million a year in skills development.
"About 600 learners within PPC will be taken through this training
facility in the next three to four years. We want to make their skills
more portable and integrate them into our business," he said.
Lindile Ndlovu
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