Minister Sisulu is Right- Youth Need Jobs, Not Houses The recent questioning of Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu on the age restricting criteria for free public housing is ill-considered and out of context. South Africa is a country rich in natural resources but equally rich in human resources. As a country we are experiencing a youth bulge where approximately 41.2% of our population are youth between the ages of 14 and 35 which contributes to swelling the working population relative to the dependent population. A larger working-age youth population means that we should be able to derive significant socio-economic benefits as consumption should be lower than production. However we are unable to accrue such demographic dividends as 36% of the working-age youth population is unemployed. It therefore becomes imperative to invest all our resources, energies and efforts into educating, skilling and employing youth and not giving them free houses. Allowing youth below the age of 35 to access free housing will only create further dependency and negate efforts at national development and building a productive youth population. Follow link to read the full press release issued by Mr Pillay nyda.gov.za/News/Pages/Minister-Sisulu-is-Right--Youth-Need-Jobs,-Not-Houses-.aspx
Posted on: Wed, 29 Oct 2014 14:21:11 +0000