Startegic Ties and Tips FOR young South African

Strategic

1. Strategies and TIPS for Young south African's to dominate and Take Up Space

2. Who is ITUMELENG MOLEA?

3. Africa Needs More Young Leaders “The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible - and achieve it, generation after generation.” - Pearl S. Buck

4. Youth Stats in South Africa: South Africa’s youth continues to bear the burden of unemployment Youth in South Africa continue to be disadvantaged in the labour market with an unemployment rate higher than the national average. According to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for the first quarter of 2022, the unemployment rate was 63,9% for those aged 15-24 and 42,1% for those aged 25-34 years, while the current official national rate stands at 34,5%. Although the graduate unemployment rate remains relatively low in South Africa compared to those of other educational levels, unemployment among the youth continues to be a burden, irrespective of educational attainment. Year-on-year, the unemployment rate among young graduates (aged 15-24 years) declined from 40,3% to 32,6%, while it increased by 6,9 percentage points to 22,4% for those aged 25-34 years in Q1: 2022.

5. South Africa has over 10 million young people aged 15-24 years and, of these, only 2,5 million were in the labour force, either employed or unemployed. The largest share (7,7 million or 75,1 %) of this group of young people are those that are out of the labour force (i.e. inactive). The main reason for being inactive is discouragement, i.e. they have lost hope of finding a job that suits their skills or in the area they reside. 37,0% of this group were disengaged from the labour market in South Africa. These are regarded as youth not in employment, education or training (NEET). A large share of these (NEET) young people are discouraged. There has been an increase in the NEET rate for both males and females. The gap, however, has decreased significantly between them year-on-year.

6. Our Minister of Youth: Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma (74 years old):

7. Young Africans seizing the opportunity The question is how can the continent’s social engineers adapt their models to further catalyse this innovation? Already, policymakers are taking notice. During the 8th Tokyo International Conference on African Development, AfDB President Akinwumi A. Adesina announced the launch of the African Education Science, Technology and Innovation Fund, stating: “Together, we have a unique opportunity to reach millions of youth with education.” There is growing recognition that Africa’s education programmes must be reimagined to nurture the entrepreneurial spirit that benefits society. This means removing the top-down curricula that have for years restricted the potential of African youth within the confines of theory. Gone are the days when a university education was just a stepping stone. Because it serves to encourage the demographic potential of youth, higher education in Africa must first and foremost help to shape the continent’s future. This begins with recognition that African academia does not exist in a vacuum, but it is one variable in the developmental dynamic.

8. How do we penetrate the space as young people? Almost 60% of Africa's population is under the age of 25, making Africa the world's youngest continent. Yet the scales of leadership across Africa are tipped firmly against this. In general, youth is a barrier to entry to becoming a leader in politics across Africa. A notable and laudable outlier to this trend is most certainly Emma Theofelus , who at the age of 27 (became Minister at 23), was appointed as Namibia’s Deputy Minister for Information, Communication and Technology. She is the living embodiment of what we should be trying to do more of in Africa.

9. How do we penetrate the space as young people? Former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe served as President of his country into his nineties; excluding people younger than him with arguably more energy and innovative ideas from taking up the reigns. In South Africa, the incumbent President Cyril Ramaphosa is 70 years old while the immediate past president is currently 81. It is true that leaders must have some sort of experience in life in order to lead effectively, but the age of leaders across Africa does not reflect the youthful populations of their nations.

10. How do we penetrate the space as young people? South Africa is a nation with the highest rate of youth unemployment in the world, with 55.7%. This is followed by 2 more African nations to round off the top 3 - with Libya at 50.9% and eSwatini at 47.4%. It is not difficult to see a link between the age of African leaders and the comprehensive lack of care for the well-being of its youth because the leaders are completely out of touch with the young people of their respective countries. This situation is a ticking time bomb and may become a cause for civil unrest and even violent revolution.

11. How do we penetrate the space as young people? Young people are desperate to get a chance to lead, to stake their claim and to show what they are made of. I am in the extremely fortunate position that by the age of 31, I had served in every sphere of government in my country. This is rare in Africa and certainly in my own experience, young people have to work harder and display more value to be seen, heard and taken seriously.

12. How do we penetrate the space as young people? I urge you to never stop learning whether it is from practical hands on experience or study. Apply for leadership courses and take any opportunity to study for free that ever comes your way. Becoming a subject matter expert - for example on safety or defence or finance - can make you indispensable to any political party and will most certainly increase your profile in society. Curtis Jackson - otherwise famously known as “50 Cent” - urges the reader in his book The 50th Law, co-authored by Robert Greene, to find ways to turn every negative into a positive.

13. Questions and Answers