CAPE TOWN, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa says the magnitude of South Africa’s crises of youth unemployment and poverty requires extraordinary measures to be taken for the problems to be resolved.

There needs to be a focus on better implementation of employment programmes through the setting of clear targets and time-frames to achieve real and measurable impact, he added when addressing the Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator in Stellenbosch, about 50 kilometres east of here, on Tuesday.

“Youth Unemployment is not a problem that cannot be solved. It can be solved,” stressed Ramaphosa. “All we need to do is to find ways in which we can create jobs for young people because there is nothing wrong with the young people of our country. What is wrong is not opening up pathways and opportunities for them,” he added.

The unemployment rate among young South Africans aged 15 and 34 has increased from 32.7 per cent to 36.1 per cent between 2008 and 2014.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK