Load shedding has exacerbated the youth unemployment crisis. To make things worse, the Presidential Employment Stimulus, which includes the largest youth employment programme in South Africa’s history, and which has provided valuable work experience to over 1 MILLION South Africans since October 2020, is also under threat. It's set to lose its funding by March 2024.

We cannot allow this to happen.

Urge the Minister of Finance and the National Treasury to keep funding these programmes, that give young people much-needed work experience, that keep them plugged into the economy while serving their communities, and that are providing teachers and learners with support in schools; a much-needed resource considering the country's literacy crisis. Programmes like this will also enable young people to thrive within the just transition to renewable energy by giving them the necessary transferable skills.