NYDA must be scrapped, not given more money
01 July 2014
Deputy Minister of Performance and Monitoring in the Presidency, Buti Manamela's proposal that the National Youth Development Agency Act should be reviewed in order to introduce provincial advisory boards and give the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) "a bigger slice of the national budget" will open the door for further irregular and wasteful expenditure.
Since its establishment under the current Act, the NYDA has been headed up by a string of political appointees that prioritised lavish parties and personal enrichment as opposed to the actual development of our youth.
The current NYDA CEO, Yershen Pillay, earns approximately R1.8 million per year - an almost presidential salary despite few to no tangible outputs from his agency.
In the 2012/13 financial year, the NYDA spent R28 million on travel and accommodation - living the high life while the rest of South Africa's youth battle to find work and put food on the table. That R28 million was part of a larger R133 million in irregular expenditure.