Assessing the causes of youth unemployment in Durban townships: the case of Cato Manor.
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Date
2018
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Abstract
This study has been conducted to examine the causes and the impact of youth unemployment in Durban townships in South Africa with a specific focus on Cato Manor Township. Through the use qualitative and quantitative research methods, the study aims to find out why youth unemployment persists to pose a challenge, especially in township areas despite the fact that the South African government has implemented a number of programmes, measures and strategies to address it. Data collection techniques such as personal interviews, focus group interviews and observation as well as questionnaires have been used to collect data from three group categories: unemployed young people without matriculation; unemployed young people with matriculation as well as unemployed young people with tertiary qualifications aged 18 to 34 years.
This study has discovered that lack of relevant skills and qualifications; lack of relevant previous work experience; high rate of corruption, nepotism and connections in the labour market are some of the major factors that increase unemployment among the youth especially in townships. This makes it hard for the companies (private companies) and government to create more job opportunities. Findings reveal that youth unemployment is not just a threat on its own; it also has a bearing on other problems such as poverty, crime and drugs abuse. As most young people find it hard to meet their basic needs such as food, shelter and clothes due to unemployment, they end up committing crime in attempts to meet such needs.
This study then calls for skills development in different categories in order to address the issue of youth unemployment in Durban townships. This will help in closing the gaps between the skills needed by the employers and the skills possessed by most young people. The companies (private companies) and the government must also ensure that only the qualified and deserving people are employed into job positions in order to avoid the cases of nepotism, favouritism and cronyism in the recruitment sphere. This can be achieved through ensuring that the employment procedures and processes are being monitored accordingly and transparently.
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Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.