Johannesburg - While President Cyril Ramaphosa was outlining his plans to tackle youth entrepreneurship in the country during the State of the Nation Address on Thursday, young entrepreneurs were sharing their frustrations and possible solutions on a different platform.
An entrepreneur from Tembisa, east of Johannesburg, where he’s been operating his business for 15 years, Balabala said: “We want to build hubs of economic development in every township in the country. The chambers that were there at the time, have failed us. I don’t even know what Nafcoc does.” “There are institutions that are supposed to be supporting young people. But the NYDA now gives non-financial support, which disadvantages young people. We are not happy with any of the institutions. Young people are not getting support from these institutions,” Mavundla said.
Mavundla said if youth-owned businesses grew, they would “hire other young people” and reduce the high unemployment rate among youth. Iskander said Harambee could help youth “reduce the costs of looking for a job”, when they register at Harambee.mobi.