The Momentum Metropolitan Foundation (MMF) recently facilitated a council session with its NPO partners to spark critical conversations to combat South Africa’s rising youth unemployment. The Foundation focuses on enabling life aspirations and sustainable earning potential of young people through employment programmes and job placement
Nkosinathi Mahlangu, Youth Employment Portfolio Head at Momentum Metropolitan said, “This session gave our six partners in the youth development and employment space a forum to learn, share
ideas and strategies.
It also became a safe space to share best practices and understand how each of us play our part in creating sustainable jobs for our country’s youth.” NPOs who were in the room mentioned that many candidates are not ready to access the opportunities and ride the challenges vital to the fourth industrial revolution (4IR).
The NPO’s also mentioned the importance of digital skills and how they should have been enforced at a foundational
school level so that matriculants arrive at tertiary level with a basic level of understanding.
NPO’S urged schools to introduce vocational skills training to empower drop-outs to manage and cope when attending NPO skills development programmes. According to Rashuping Morake from Rhiza Babuyile “NPO’s don’t talk about the fact that they are each other’s competitors for funding. That is why it is significant that Momentum has made the effort to bring everyone together as
partners, not competitors.
One of MMF’s partners from Quadpara Association of South Africa (QASA) spoke about challenges that restricted them from being able to provide services effectively. QASA’s candidates are wheelchair bound and have found that most of them drop out of school due to issues ranging from disability unfriendly facilities and financial challenges. QASA has found this challenging because most of its programmes require a matric certificate, leaving many disabled young people unable to find a path to
financial success.
“We have a common goal through these partnerships. It is imperative that we start working closer together as a collective so we can fast-track economic upliftment among our youth. Our collaborative
approach and our partner’s efforts will be the catalyst for our country’s journey to success,” concluded Mahlangu.
By Amanda Mkhize
