What can be deduced from student protests ranging from the #RhodesMustFall movement at the University of Cape Town last year to the current turmoil on campuses across South Africa over tuition fees is that young people' s prospects are desperate. It is easy to be consumed with the uncomfortable sight of police and campus security guards clashing with unruly students hurling stones and damaging infrastructure, but does the seemingly unquenchable anger of young people speak of problems outside the hallways of higher learning? The state of youth unemployment in South Africa is "precarious", according to statistician-general Pali Lehohla. He is passionate about policymakers taking what the numbers say seriously. Some three-quarters of South Arica's 5.6million unemployed are categorised as youth. The number of unemployed young people shot up to 3.636million in the second quarter of 2016 from 3.1million in the second quarter of 2008, StatsSA figures show. The World Economic Forum said Sou...
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