Inroads made in Youth Employment Accord

Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe says that thousands of jobs have been created for young people since the signing of the Youth Accord last year. Image: GCIS

Answering questions in the National Assembly, the Deputy President said the Presidential Youth Indaba on Jobs and Skills, which was held last weekend, gave a detailed progress report on the accord.

"The Youth Employment Accord has also promoted the creation of internship opportunities for the youth in national departments, municipalities and state-owned enterprises," said Motlanthe.

He said the jobs were linked to the National Infrastructure Plan, the trade sector, government programmes, business services, construction, transport and communication.

He said government and its social partners were trying their best to empower and employ young people.

The Accord, which was signed in April last year, seeks to improve education and skilling of young people, helping them to find jobs or start their own businesses. As part of the Accord, government commits itself to increasing the number of people employed in the public sector, while certain industries have set youth development targets.

"There are now just over 6.1m youth who are employed, since the signing of the accord. Since the signing, youth employment [people under 35] rose by 420,000, the biggest rise in youth employment in a long time," Motlanthe claimed.

Answering a question on the draft Executive Members' Ethics Amendment Bill, Motlanthe confirmed that the bill has been approved by Cabinet in December.

"The amended bill was then referred to the Department of Justice, as a lead department to embark on its internal process. Once that is completed, it will be submitted to Parliament."

The Members' Ethics Act, which dates from 1998, governs the conduct of the president, deputy president, ministers, deputy ministers, premiers and MECs.