Urgent intervention required for our youth

THULANI MAGAZI

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In a country with sluggish economic growth, more and more people remain outside the labour market. This will only get worse if urgent steps are not taken to curb this ticking time bomb.

This is particularly painful when one looks at the country's youth. South Africa simply does not have enough jobs for everyone. In addition, annually we produce graduates who cannot get jobs.

Youth unemployment currently stands at over 40% and it surged to 46,1% in the first quarter of this year. These figures will continue to grow as long as our economy remains stagnant.

What is extremely worrying, is the failure by our political principals to decisively act in this regard without making noise. Every politician in this country knows unemployment is our biggest challenge and threatens the very freedom many before us fought so hard for us to achieve.