Graduates queue for grants instead of jobs

Graduates queue for grants instead of jobs.More than 700 000 graduates and young people have joined the social development queues in search of the R350 Social Relief of Distress Grant (SRD) grant, shocking the country.

As reported by Cosatu, more than 700 000 graduates have applied for the R350 social distress relief grant since the start of 2023, highlighting that South Africa has become a “nanny state” where young people are given social grants instead of jobs.

Graduates queue for grants instead of jobs

According to media reports last week, more and more unemployed graduates are applying for grants instead of seeking jobs with the department of social development.

Two weeks ago, more than 1000 unemployed medical doctors affiliated with the SA Medical Association Trade Union took to the streets in Pretoria demanding jobs in SA’s clinics and hospitals.

How Much Applications In January

By the end of January, SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) had received over 13.5 million applications for the SRD grant, and more than 716 000 tertiary graduates had applied.A monthly average of 7.4 million to 7.8 million applications were approved, according to Zulu.According to Cosatu spokesperson Sizwe Pamla, this is the biggest scandal in a country with a 60% youth unemployment rate.

According to the latest statistics, 64.18% of young people in the country are unemployed. The youth unemployment rate refers to the share of the working-age population aged 15-24 that is unemployed but actively seeking work.

Policymakers and decision-makers should be ashamed of this scandal. As a result, these young people are watching their dreams pass them by as a result of policy choices that are letting them down badly,” Pamla said.

Enoch Godongwana, the Finance Minister, is expected to table his Budget speech this week, highlighting key areas of economic recovery.There are more than 10 million unemployed youth in this country, and Cosatu hopes the minister will have something tangible to offer them.

An allocation of money for the Presidential Employment Programme can make a difference if it absorbs a million young people in the upcoming Budget speech. To assist young people in starting businesses, they must also establish a state bank. “We need a budget that is people-centered and caters to the rural and township economies,” Pamla said.

The R350 grant represents an income for millions of unemployed graduates in the absence of meaningful jobs across sectors, according to Dr Cedric Sihlangu, provincial chairperson of the SA Medical Association Trade Union.

It is not surprising that more and more graduates apply for social grants when there are no jobs available. In a worrying trend, graduates in highly skilled sectors of the economy, such as doctors, sit at home without jobs when government Sonas (State of the Nation Addresses) after Sonas talk pretty about the need to employ young people and graduates,” Sihlangu said.

Approximately 60% of grant recipients in the country are young, according to Sassa spokesperson Paseka Letsatsi.

The majority of people applying for SRD grants are young people and mostly female, according to our analysis. It is good that if we have the information, we will be able to share that with our sister departments so that they can assist them,” he said.

In his Sona, Ramaphosa indicated that the social relief distress grant would become a permanent feature in the lives of poor South Africans, including graduates. The Institute for Economic Justice has approved this announcement.

As a result of making SRD permanent, South Africa will become a world leader in dignified, evidence-based social protection. According to the institute, basic income, national minimum wages, and public services could dramatically raise the living standards of the poorest half of our population.

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