ANCYL demands R1bn and no experience for state jobs

The ANC Youth League in KwaZulu-Natal is pushing ahead with its demand for the eThekwini municipality to allocate R1bn for youth development - and is also targeting the private sector to scrap “experience requirements” for entry-level jobs.

The ANCYL also wants young people to be members of the provincial legislature and the National Assembly. It said youth-owned businesses must benefit from government departments to improve job creation.

These are some of the resolutions taken by the ANCYL in the eThekwini region during its two-day regional congress at Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The thrust of the congress was the assessment of the league’s political approach to youth development and challenges facing young people, such as unemployment, drug abuse and violence against women and children.

ANCYL provincial secretary Thanduxolo Sabelo told TimesLIVE on Wednesday the league would intensify the struggle for economic freedom.

“This means that they will push hard on policies to make the lives of youth better. They welcomed the decision following the conference of the ANC Youth League to scrap experience requirements and we further resolved that we are now going to take this approach to the private sector because we also want it to be implemented by the private sector,” he said.

The government has scrapped the experience requirement as a requisite for people  applying for entry-level jobs.

The amended regulations announced by public service and administration minister Ayanda Dlodlo are to address high youth unemployment. These will come into effect on April 1.

Sabelo said the league had also wanted R1bn for the youth office so that there could be youth development in the eThekwini municipality.

eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede did not allocate the money in the city’s R45bn budget in June last year. The mayor's spokesperson, Mthunzi Gumede, said "a significant budget will be allocated towards benefiting the children, youth and women programmes and projects".

The DA Youth in KZN has said that the money would be used to enrich and reward certain “comrades and to fast-track looting efforts by the league".

The ANCYL in eThekwini said it wanted R1bn to be allocated to help young people establish businesses and that the municipality, not the league, would be in charge of the money.

Sabelo said the ANCYL eThekwini regional congress had also resolved that all government departments should ensure that youth-owned businesses benefited so that there could be job creation.

“It also resolved to support young people to go to the legislature and be members of the provincial legislature and also the National Assembly,” said Sabelo.

He said the organisation wanted tougher punishment for those guilty of gender-based violence.

“The congress also called for more police visibility and gang units to be established in different townships and villages to deal with challenges of drug abuse and gang violence,” said Sabelo.