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Durban- On the eve of Youth Day, the SA Clothing and Textiles Workers’ Union has announced a R25 million development programme aimed at helping unemployed youths.
The Sactwu programme, which was expected to benefit KwaZulu-Natal youths, would be rolled out over a three-year period, but was expected to begin having an effect as soon as this month when the union introduces a policy requiring 25 percent of all new job opportunities at its two 100 percent union-controlled clothing factories to be set aside for unemployed school leavers.
The union’s Fachmy Abrahams yesterday said the programme would create internships, and an expected 50 new job opportunities – amounting to R2m per year.
He said the two factories, in Durban and Hammarsdale, belong to Zenzeleni, a company started in the 1970s by retrenched workers.
The company is also conducting a feasibility study for a third factory in the Eastern Cape.
Abrahams said they had adopted the programme on Wednesday..
“We just made this decision, but chose to announce it in time for Youth Day (on June 16) to make it special,” he said
Union general secretary André Kriel said their youth employment assistance package would provide support for workplace internships, job placements for unemployed graduates and work experience placements in trade unions for unemployed graduates.
It would also provide artisan apprenticeship job application assistance for unemployed matriculants, 500 university level bursaries a year and help with the development of young Sactwu members.
Abrahams said young people faced considerable difficulty finding work because of their lack of experience.
The programme, he said, would help remedy this.
Inject
The union would also inject R700 000 a year into numeracy and literacy programmes for 93 000 pupils in 236 schools and R500 000 a year to support 345 matric pupils at matric winter schools.
Abrahams said that once the news filtered down into their factories, youths could begin applying for the programme.
“We’re hoping this initiative will inspire other companies and entities to do the same to help the unemployed youth,” he said.
The Statistics SA quarterly labour force survey for January to March revealed that between the fourth quarter of last year and the first quarter of this year, unemployment increased by 100 000 to 4.6 million – a hike of 25.2 percent.
Just over 65 percent of the unemployed have been looking for work for one year or longer.
The survey also found that students accounted for the largest share – 40.5 percent – of the economically inactive population.
Further, it reported that about 3.5 million of the 10.4 million people aged between 15 and 24 were not in employment, education or training in this year’s first quarter.
In KZN 32.4 percent of youths aged between 15 and 24 fall into this bracket
The highest rate was 39.6 percent in North West, followed by 36.7 percent in Mpumalanga, 34.4 percent in Gauteng and 33.8 percent in the Eastern Cape. - The Daily News