ANCYL calls for youth unemployment to be declared national disaster

The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to declare youth unemployment a national disaster, describing the crisis as an emergency that requires urgent intervention.

The total number of unemployed young people between the ages of 15 and 34 has reached five million, with the youth unemployment rate now standing at 47.4%.

Addressing the media in Johannesburg, ANCYL President Collen Malatji says the government should consider implementing measures similar to those introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic to tackle youth unemployment.

“We demand that the president declare youth unemployment a disaster in South Africa and set up all economic cluster departments the same way we fought against COVID-19. (That) is the same way we must fight against youth unemployment because the effects are the same.

When you are unemployed, and you are at disposition (sic) from your own economic activities in your own country, you are like a dead person.

Now, the way we are protected during COVID-19 is the same way we must be responsive against unemployment,” says Malatji.

Unemployment Rate | Unemployment crisis in SA continues: