The 2024 Budget Speech was delivered by the Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana, on Wednesday afternoon. The Minister gave further details into promises made by President Cyril Ramaphosa during his State of the Nation Address (SONA).
During SONA, Ramaphosa revealed that the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention (PYEI) created over 1.7 million work opportunities, providing vital employment avenues for young individuals. Notably, the placement of more than 1 million school assistants in 23,000 schools has not only offered valuable work experience but also contributed to enhancing learning outcomes.
Now, Godongwana has said that billions will be allocated so that the initiative can continue, saying, "We have also made provision for key initiatives aimed at job creation".
R61.4 billion is allocated for employment programmes over the medium term. R7.4 billion has been identified for the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative.
There has however not been official plans revealed about the Basic Education Employment Initiative (BEEI), which falls under the PYEI. Youth Capital is one civil society organisation which has been calling for this programme to continue so that unemployed youth can continue to benefit from teaching assistant positions.
Existing short-term work opportunities such as those created by the social employment fund and the presidential employment stimulus, in general, are putting money directly in people’s pockets, enabling them to spend in local economies.
They have said that the Minister should ensure there is adequate funding for both programmes for another five years.
"The employment stimulus has shown us the potential of public employment programmes to simultaneously tackle poverty, boost community development and create work opportunities. We’ve seen this happening in 14 sectors countrywide in schools, early childhood development centres and areas categorised as economic deserts."
