The ANC Youth League (ANCYL) has demanded President Cyril Ramaphosa to “react the same to youth unemployment as he did to Covid-19”.
The Youth League marched to eThekwini City (Durban City Hall) on Monday against the stark youth unemployment rate, demanding the metro provides jobs for young jobless people in KwaZulu-Natal.
Statistics South Africa reported 60% of young people between 15 to 24 years old bear the brunt of unemployment, meanwhile the 25 to 34 years old age group accounted for 41.7% for the second quarter.
KZN is the second province with the least unemployment rate, recording 31.1% behind the Western Cape, which sat at 22.2%.
Chanting “asinamali” with hundreds of young people, ANCYL president Collen Malatji declared youth unemployment a national disaster.
Malatji said the rise of joblessness had stripped the dignity of young people, as they could barely meet their basic needs.
“Away with unemployment. Away with corruption and illegal foreigners. Forward with free education and employment. We are tired of hunger. We came to tell you as the ANCYL, we have declared unemployment a national disaster. We are saying to president (Cyril Ramaphosa), the way you reacted to Covid-19, you must react the same to unemployment. The dignity of the youth is stripped when they are unemployed,” said Malatji.
He said the government has the responsibility of job creation for young people. Therefore, the ANCYL will be organising a national march against unemployment to the Union Buildings in Pretoria and the JSE.
He did not confirm the date of the looming marches.
“Everyone in this country must participate in the restoration of youth unemployment,” Malatji said.
The youth league leader highlighted when young people remain jobless, they resort to crime and drug consumption tainting their future.
He urged eThekwini Municipality to hire young people to be active economic participants.
“The eThekwini metro must urgently create jobs for young people,” Malatji said.
The ANCYL said the country has no space for undocumented foreigners, because they are used as cheap labour, which hindered South African young people from securing jobs.
“There are jobs that are done by illegal foreigners, they must leave this country. This country is not a banana republic. We know foreigners are used as cheap labour, the South African youth must start working.”
He told young people: “You find an illegal foreigner in a restaurant, you remove them, and start working.”
KZN premier, Thami Ntuli, has issued a stern warning to undocumented foreigners in the province that they must go back to their home countries and return with proper documentation.
Ntuli held a clean-up campaign after raiding factories in Mandeni, after revelations that illegal foreigners, in particular from Lesotho, were hired as cheap labour.
Malatji said the country was rich in raw materials. Old factories should be reopened and young people should be hired with minimum wages.
The ANCYL planned to clamp down on abandoned buildings and address the housing backlog in the province, while deserving citizens lived in squalor in informal settlements.
“We are going to clean Home Affairs, and hijacked buildings that illegal foreigners are living in, while South Africans are living in informal settlements. Enough is enough,” Malatji said.
He implored ANCYL members to fix structures within the party, citing that it garnered 40.2% during the elections, failing to secure an outright majority nationally and provincially.
He accused Umkhonto weSizwe leader and former president, Jacob Zuma, for destroying the ANC.
“People are tired of the ANC. We know the isigebengu (thug) from Nkandla (Zuma) ruined the ANC. The ANC can only be ruined by someone from the ANC,” said Malatji.
The ANCYL delivered a memorandum to the eThekwini City mayor, Cyril Xaba.
The Star