Covid-19 used as a scapegoat for failure of Premier Makhura’s office to ensure youth access to work opportunities
6 May 2021
While our youth are in desperate need for jobs, The Office of Premier David Makhura has once again failed to meet its quarterly target of economically excluded youth accessing work opportunity placements through the Tshepo 1 Million Programme.
This information was revealed in the third quarterly report of the Office of the Premier for the 2020/21 financial year. The set target of 23 430 was not met, with only 12 927 youth reached.
A further 4 250 economically excluded youth accessing expanded public works opportunity placements through the Tshepo 1 Million Programme concerning installation, repairs and maintenance work were also supposed to be place this quarter. This target was also not met which is extremely concerning considering the economic impact from Covid-19 and the livelihoods of unemployed youth in the province.
According to the report, these targets were not met because of the Covid-10 lockdown restrictions. This is a poor excuse, considering the country is now on Level 1 Lockdown and such concerned restrictions do not prevent youth from accessing the opportunities in these programmes.