Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities:

             I am informed of the following:

1. Statistics South Africa does not make provincial unemployment data available for the 30 municipalities.

(ii)

Source: StatsSA

*For all values of 10 000 or lower the sample size is too small for reliable estimates.

*Due to rounding, numbers do not necessarily add up to totals.

(iii)

Source: StatsSA

Source: StatsSA

1. Statistics South Africa does not make youth unemployment data available for the 30 municipalities.
2.  

Source: StatsSA

(iii)

Source: StatsSA

(iv)

Source: StatsSA

(c) (d)

Source: StatsSA

(d)(i)   Statistics South Africa does not make NEETs data available for the 30 municipalities.

(ii)

Source: StatsSA

(iii)

Source: StatsSA

(iv) See (d)

(e) 

One of the Western Cape Government’s top priorities is to enable job creation in the province. To this end, the province has adopted a Growth for Jobs Strategy that seeks to enable break-out economic growth that will lead to sufficient employment and opportunities.

A key Priority Focus Area of this strategy, entitled Improved Access to Economic Opportunities and Employability (skills and education, transport, housing, etc.), aims to unlock pathways to opportunities for citizens, especially young citizens.

Pathways comprise of improved knowledge, skills, experience, and/or competencies (employability assets), career management skills, workplace-ready capabilities and skills, economic opportunities more accessible to communities, and entrepreneurship. Its objective is “A thriving society where capable, economically active citizens are able to access economic opportunities and employment, including the skills of the future, and where barriers to accessing information, to developing competencies and skills, and to finding work, have been reduced or removed.”

The Growth for Jobs Strategy also understands that we need to get the foundations for job-creating growth right if we are to make a real difference. In this way, every focus area set out in this Strategy– from exports, to infrastructure, from energy to investment – aims to address high unemployment – especially amongst our youth.

Within the Department of Economic Development and Tourism, one major initiative includes implementing internships targeting unemployed youth and NEETs from diverse backgrounds via their experiential learning programmes, that require companies to employ between 70% and 80% of beneficiaries who complete their internship  for permanent or contracted employment, dependent on the needs of the company.

The Department’s experience has been that due to the positive experience by some companies participating in their experiential learning programme, they absorb up to 100% of the beneficiaries into full-time employment once their internship ends. In some cases, companies even offer the interns full-time employment, at the commencement of the internship. Many youths (15-34 years) have been supported in the BPO sector, which resulted in the sector improving global competitiveness.

Through internships, youth develop the relevant and appropriate experience and skills required by industry. In this way, internships are valuable to various sectors as they address the skills gap. They can positively contribute to the productivity and competitiveness of these sectors.

Another good example of the work undertaken by the Department is the SMME Booster Fund. The 2023 Fund will focus specifically on support projects / programmes aimed at growing and developing SMMEs, with an emphasis on youth-owned businesses.

Since the first iteration of this fund in 2019, the SMME Booster Fund has assisted 860 SMMEs, thereby sustaining 4 977 jobs.  The Booster Fund has helped these SMMEs to grow, creating an additional 651 jobs.

The SMME Booster Fund provides support to interventions, which include projects and programmes, implemented by organisations and/or municipalities that are geared at supporting SMMEs based in the Western Cape.

Other categories include:

• Exporter development
• Women-owned businesses
• Township-based businesses

The Fund utilises a co-funding implementation model which encourages collaboration and partnerships and will focus only on the technical support aspect of the project and/or programme. The rollout of other aspects such as training, mentoring, coaching, access to market interventions will be funded by the organisation applying for funding.