Public Witness talks about unemployment

According to the Quarterly Labor Force Survey (QLFS), young people are still struggling to enter the South African labor market. The official unemployment rate peaked at 34.40% in the second quarter of 2021. But according to Statistics South Africa, the country's young people are being hit the hardest - 46.3% of young people between the ages of 15 and 34 have indicated that they are currently unemployed. In other words, almost one in two people under 35 in the labor force are unable to find a job. The need for jobs is great and continues to rise.

That is why the Centre for Public Witness, together with Professor Erwin Schwella and others in Bonnievale, met with the organization Bonnievale 418.

Bonnievale 418 is an organization founded with the aim to help create a Bonnievale that has zero learning gaps, zero NEETs and zero unemployment by 2030. They are currently looking at the challenge of creating jobs for the learners who graduated from Jakes Gerwel Technical High School:

"We believe every young person should have the opportunity to participate fully in learning and in life regardless of means or ability. We invest in the lives of young people by increasing access to skills-based education, supporting learner pathways from school to work, growing employment potential within our local economy, and sharing what we learn with others."

The Centre for Public Witness is particularly excited about this discussion because it could lead to the development of a model in which we can address similar challenges in other towns as well. South Africa is currently struggling with a massive motivation problem among the country's youth to further their studies. After all, Bonnievale 418 says that for 9 out of 10 children basic education is their final qualification. One of the reasons is because our children do not have a complete picture of what can and should happen after school.