There is no doubt that thousands of graduates are desperately seeking employment in SA.
And for many, that journey is heartbreaking.
Millicent Shisani, a single mother of four from Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, summed it up, telling TimesLIVE Premium that putting food on the table daily was her “worst nightmare”.
She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in media studies from the University of Limpopo in 2018, then completed a postgraduate certificate in education, making her eligible to apply for a teaching post. She’s been unemployed since January 2022: “It’s traumatic.”
ANCYL president Collen Malatji said during the league’s 79th birthday celebrations at the weekend that unemployed graduates should be paid a monthly grant of R4,500 — similar to earning the national minimum wage working for a month. He also lobbied for social relief of distress (SRD) grants to continue and be increased to R1,500.
It was revealed in parliament that more than 13.4-million people applied for the R350 social relief of distress (SRD) grant in January, including 716,200 ‘unemployed graduates’.
But what would it cost to fund these unemployed graduates? Would they be holders of university degrees, diplomas or a TVET college qualification?
And more importantly, where does the league believe the money will come from?
It's an obvious question, given that Malatji pushed for the graduate grant on the same day the Sunday Times reported that government would have to raise VAT or close dozens of state programmes to lower spending enough, to continue just the R350 SRD grant beyond March next year.
The dire situation facing hundreds of thousands of unemployed graduates was previously reported on by us when it was revealed in parliament that more than 13.4-million people applied for the R350 social relief of distress (SRD) grant in January, including 716,200 “unemployed graduates”.
SA is being pummelled by the reality of soaring national debt, shrinking tax revenue, a cost of living crisis and rationed electricity supplies. In the firing line are the poor, unemployed and middle class.
While we sympathise with the plight of all caught in this financial storm — despite numerous cautions about spending from the Treasury dating back to 2013 — it appears the graduate grant is simply a pipe dream in this fiscal maelstrom.
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