South Africa’s youth unemployment rate has come under severe scrutiny at the 26th ANC Youth League’s national elective conference currently under way at Nasrec Expo Centre in Johannesburg.
Deputy convener of the ANCYL, Fasiha Hassan - who delivered the youth league’s political report which highlighted the plight of young people struggling to find meaningful jobs as the country continues to grapple with a stagnant - was stinging in her assessment of the unemployment rate.
As things stand, according to different sources, the youth unemployment rate in South Africa in 2022 ranges from 27% to 64.4%.
Hassan said to mitigate this scourge, the country’s minerals needed to be shared to benefit the poor.
Hassan said this this was a “glaring indictment" on the state of the ANCYL that this was the first political report in nearly a decade, adding that the youth league was committed to finding lasting solutions to the crisis.
“Statistics have painted a grim picture of the youth unemployment rate in the country, which increased to 46.5%. This is a national crisis. (The) ANC is agitating for the expropriation of land without compensation in the metros to release land for housing construction, social housing rents must be reduced,” she said.
The report also spoke on the Russia and Ukraine war which has worsened the country’s woes due to high fuel prices, saying the recent peace mission led by President Cyril Ramaphosa had done well in efforts to find a peaceful resolution of this stalemate.
Hassan, who is the youth league’s first woman to present a political report of the youth league, also called on young people to take up the fight and use their votes in changing and challenging the myriad issues affecting young people.
“This is a historic moment as this is the first political report in nearly a decade. A defining moment since the founding of the youth league in 1994. This is a historic moment because young people have yearned for elected youth leaders. The absence of the youth voice in the congress has been a glaring indictment on the state of the ANCYL,” she said.
She added that it was important for the youth to regain their voice and take charge of their lives.
“As we embark on the journey of renewal, we draw our incredible heritage of leaders. We need to mobilise a new generation of leaders committed to the spirit of activism, equality, social justice and economic empowerment. If the ANCYL is to survive the next phase (of) its existence, it must assert its autonomy. We must break from this habit and determine our own path as young people,” she said.