With an estimated youth unemployment rate of 55.75%, young South Africans are ready to grasp any opportunity to make a living. Through the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention, the SA Youth portal aims to provide young people with opportunities to overcome unemployment.
SA Youth is an online platform which aims to connect young people with opportunities. The platform gathers the opportunities for earning, learning and volunteering and makes it visible for young people through the mobi-site. People who are seeking work or opportunities can access the network, find the opportunities and stay connected for free.
Waseem Carrim, CEO of NYDA (National Youth Development Agency) said the site allows young people to select and apply for opportunities that are a good fit based on their profile and interest. There are no signup fees and the site is data-free. The platform works with various partners who can load the opportunities, reach eligible applicants and track their applications.
Carrim said the “network of networks” will bring partners together to provide ongoing recommendations to learning, content, and support so that young people know what they must do to grow their profile and access more opportunities.
The network’s pilot began in June 2020. It will be officially launched by the presidency and its partners on February 10. In the past six months since the pilot started, over 1.2 million young people have joined the platform. According to Carrim, young people have been linked to more than 200,000 opportunities so far. They recently partnered with the department of basic education to link young people to a further 200,000 opportunities as education assistants at schools around the country.
Carrim said opportunities are loaded onto the platform daily. However it is hard to say how often individuals will receive opportunities. This is based on where a young person lives (i.e. their proximity to the opportunity and how many opportunities are in their area), whether they match other requirements of the opportunity, and how often they look for, and apply for opportunities while building their profile.
How to access the system?
Young people can join the network through a data free mobi-site (sayouth.datafree.co). They are able to return regularly to access opportunities and update their details.
The SA Youth journey
1. Register on sayouth.datafree.co (it’s free to register and won’t cost you any data!)
2. Remember your ID number and password (you will need this to log in)
3. Save the toll-free number 0800 72 72 72 on your phone
4. Call them if you need help and be sure to answer when they call you for more details!
5. Visit sayouth.datafree.co regularly and log in to view the opportunities that you have been
matched to
6. You can apply for any opportunities directly from the mobi-site
7. You can access personalised content that will help you become more work ready
8. You can update your employment status anytime, but they will also message you every three months to remind you
9. Have your details changed? Update your profile by logging onto sayouth.datafree.co with your ID number and password.
Are you a young person who has signed up to the platform? We want to hear from you. Get in touch with us.
