NYDA spends R10 million on award ceremony
The National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) will spend R10 million on the South African Youth Awards ceremony this year, a reply to a DA parliamentary question has revealed.
According to the reply:
- a total of R6 027 000.00 will be spent on the awards ceremony through funding from sponsorships; and
- an additional R4 097 994.48 has been spent on advertising the event.
Given the poor track record of the NYDA, and with millions of young South Africans without access to job opportunities, it is simply not justifiable for the organisation to spend such an exorbitant amount on a single event. The funding sought for the awards from sponsors would be better spent on initiatives designed to facilitate youth employment initiatives.
The DA believes that NYDA should rather be focusing on initiatives designed to improve the lives of South Africa's youth, such as the Youth Wage Subsidy. Award ceremony events like this only serve to augment the public profiles of NYDA executives, and do nothing to create new opportunities for unemployed youth.