Times Of Swaziland: This is an indication of unemployment in Swaziland

This is an indication of unemployment in Swaziland
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The editor on 16/08/2013 00:00:00


Sir,
I have been asking myself what government is doing  to reduce the level of
unemployment in our country. It is painful to learn that it seems there’s
nothing being done. When adverts of recruitment are publicised, you see a number
of people, especially the youth, queuing waiting for recruitment. In all the
recruitments, the youth come in numbers sometimes three times the number needed
by the recruiting company.
This is a clear indication that the level of unemployment is very high in our
country.
My question is, what has government done specifically to rectify the
unemployment problem?  You go to the universities and you find a number of
students who will graduate but will struggle to find employment.  In our country
it really does not matter if you’re educated or not since neither can get
employment.
When you go to rural areas like Gege, Lavumisa you are shocked by the state of
affairs there. What has government done to make the plight of the poor more
bearable? I think there’s a lot that is supposed to be done. Yes, there is the
youth fund and the regional development fund to name a few but there is still a
lot that can be done.
For instance, the youth fund has become useless because the youth is competing
with old businesses. Then how are they going to survive when a young person
applies for the money to open a business like that of selling chickens? The
market is very saturated and I’m definitely sure that there is no constituency
in Swaziland that is not selling chickens.
Now, what does government do to sort out such problems? May I urge those
responsible to look deeper into this? In the end allowing the youth to open
businesses that are not profitable is no different from throwing the money away.
One thing is for sure, our government is neglecting the youth of this country.
Ronnie Dlamini