PICTURE: THE TIMES The story of SA’s young people is the story of the country’s very future. But for years we’ve neglected them, creating an ominous destabilising force in society. The numbers alone are arresting: there are 19.6 million people between 15 and 34 — 36% of the country. Yet Stats SA tells us that this group makes up 70% of the unemployed.So they sit at home, often resorting to crime. It’s a life without dignity because while they might be unemployed, they are also unemployable. Most of them (57%) don’t even have a matric certificate — a devastating lack of skills.Damningly, since Stats SA published that report in the second week of April, none of the army of institutions which claims to represent this group has even found time to pronounce on the parlous state of SA’s youth. But we ignore young people at our peril.Says Stats SA: "When (young people) cannot earn a living, this youth bulge becomes a demographic time bomb, as large masses of frustrated youth become a produ...
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