The unemployment rate in South Africa rose to 27,6% which is a very big number, especially if you consider that the unemployment rate accounts only for active job-seekers while many have given up looking. As South Africans we been trying to understand this far the past 10 years. Why is the unemployment rate so high? The youth have to ask themselves what can be done to change this situation.
The question is difficult to answer. To understand the SA unemployment problem we need to confront the legacies of history. During the apartheid era, it was state policy was to remove black people from cities where opportunities are better and to prevent them from acquiring adequate skills or getting high paying jobs while restricting their movement in the cities.
A new plan or strategy that can be put into action is to enhance and develop small businesses, promote decent employment within macro-economic frame work and boost vocational training. Small businesses have the potential to grow the economy and it is one of the elements that can eliminate poverty and the unemployment. South Africa has a very long way or journey to embark on to down this high mountain we are facing of unemployment rate. The youth have a big role to play in that project and this is directly their interest but it is also the way to develop the society in general and reduce inequalities.
Caroline Kutlwano Sekulu