CONSCRIPTION in SA: The answer to youth unemployment?

In a thought-provoking column published on Business Live this week, the seldom-talked-about issue of conscription in SA to cure joblessness came to the fore. John Dludlu, CEO of the Small Business Institute, and former editor of Sowetan, said conscription in SA could be a viable answer to unemployment amongst the youth.

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In Dludlu’s column he mentions that SA is facing a ticking time bomb with youth unemployment at over 60% among 16-25-year olds. And that Oliver Tambo himself, “Despicable though the apartheid regime was, Afrikaner empowerment and employment … did get some things right.”

CONSCRIPTION TO SOLVE YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT

South Africa’s youth unemployment is amongst the highest in the world. And even the thousands of young people who earned university degrees are walking the streets jobless or not in training. The SA economy is growing at only 1% annually and is therefore unable to absorb the millions of youths coming out of high school or tertiary institutions.

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The South African government is trying its best through tax mechanisms to encourage businesses to employ inexperienced youth. Similarly, government has scrapped the requirement for experience in entry-level jobs in the public service. And there are several youth employment initiatives like the National Youth Service (NYS) around the country.

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GOVERNMENT ACCEPTS SOMETHING HAS TO CHANGE

Dludlu then gets the crux of the matter by saying, while commendable, more creative thinking is required to defuse the youth unemployment time bomb. “It may also be time to start thinking the unthinkable: reintroducing conscription in SA. During the apartheid era, conscription trained young white men to defend their country from internal and external threats. But it also helped hundreds of thousands of youths pick up non-combat soft skills such as discipline and opened pathways for academic and professional careers,” said Dludlu.

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As we’ve explored in earlier stories, SANDF salaries are higher than average in South Africa, and the country faces no external military threat at present. In closing, Dludlu reposes the question, “Perhaps it is time to repurpose conscription in SA to address youth unemployment and training in a structured way.”

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What do you think? Could conscription in SA be the answer to youth unemployment? Do the youth need more discipline or must government create more opportunities for them? Be sure to share your thoughts with our audience in the comments section below. And don’t forget to follow us @TheSANews on Twitter and The South African on Facebook for the latest updates.