Youth have lost hope, says NYDA

YOUNG people have lost hope for a better life due to rising unemployment, the National Youth Development Agency warned yesterday.

"We are not going to have a bright future in this country if we don't start investing in youth development now," NYDA chairman Andile Lungisa said in Pretoria.

"By 2025 this generation will be expected to carry the country forward, but it is a generation that was never assisted with skills; it is a generation that has lost hope."

Lungisa released a set of guidelines, developed by the agency in a bid to monitor and enforce the introduction of the National Youth Policy endorsed by the Cabinet in 2009.

The policy document contains commitments by the government and other bodies on services that will be rolled out across the country for youth development.

Lungisa criticised the private sector for not playing an active role towards the youth development goals and skills attainment.

"The private sector in South Africa has not really been contributing to youth development. To them youth development does not exist, that is the major challenge," he said.

"We want them to take youth development seriously. If they become part of the skills revolution, at least things will change for the better."

He said more than 1.8-million young South Africans had become hopeless and were no longer looking for employment.

Lungisa claimed his organisation had created more than 62000 jobs, trained more than 84000 people and disbursed more than 25000 loans in the past financial year.