Harambee has their work cut out for them. As an NPO focused on solving youth unemployment, Harambee dedicates time and effort to identify the issues young people face in their unemployment journey, such as why employers are not hiring and why the youth remain unemployed? The youth unemployment rate stands at a concerning 63.9%, with more than one million youth leaving school every year in search of a career, any type of employment for that matter. Yet, most fall short due to extraordinary barriers they cannot overcome.

Existing inequality, unresolved from the apartheid era and expensive internet connections, the lack of social networks and unavailable funds for transport are but a few of the barriers experienced by youth from previously disadvantaged backgrounds, which they sadly have to contend with. Harambee gathers data from the youth through the SAYOUTH platform powered by Harambee to identify where the problems lie and define what needs to be fixed.

In our quest to find out more about the aim, significance, and importance of the SAYOUTH platform in assisting in this scourge of Youth unemployment, we engaged in a conversation with Ms Mandiphiwe ‘Mandi’ Levani, the Program Manager at Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator.

As part of the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention, SAYOUTH was launched on the 16th of June 2021 as a platform created for South African youth jobseekers but touted as a platform different from other job seeker platforms, which were typically costly to browse and hardly practical.

In a fight against money scammers posing as job recruiters, Harambee created this platform around the youth and for the youth, with 2.6 million members currently logged on and using the system. SAYOUTH seems like the solution to dismantling barriers using what is called “pathway management”. Free from data charges, the network allows the South African youth to join and search for job opportunities, gain work experience, and grow their income. In turn, it will enable youth-run businesses to grow and help fight the battle to stabilize our economy. If there are burning questions or a need for guidance, registered youth can call the toll-free number and have a qualified assistant give them the advice they need. SAYOUTH has a goal to achieve, that is, bringing government leaders, civil society champions and business executives together to achieve one common goal - closing the gap on youth unemployment. Furthermore, this can only be achieved by following the most recent youth employment accelerator model. It is designed to deliberately target specific sectors of our economy rather than a broad-spectrum method of seeking opportunities.

When identifying a particular industry, certain aspects will be assessed, such as:

1. Opportunities for growth in current employment positions
2. Space for job creation
3. Existing opportunities that can be tapped into for transformation.

While Barloworld Equipment (BWE) previously benefitted from Harambee’s previous placement model, Harambee can proudly say that the SAYOUTH network is effective, having valid evidence of placing 200 000 youth in teacher assistant positions in the year 2021. Going back to 2015, Harambee supported BWE with a significant recruitment project introducing young women into a maledominated division of BWE. The Heavy Earth Diesel Mechanic apprenticeship comprised 76 young women, which was a challenge for Harambee at the time. To ensure they designed the most effective model, they had to think outside the box around the different challenges women face in the workplace and create a strategy that spoke directly to that.

Diagnostic assessments show the requirements and what was implemented in an 8-week readiness intervention as a result. The model was effective, and BWE applauded Harambee for producing outstanding thriving candidates for the job. Below are the requirements:

WORKPLACE ENVIRONMENT	PHYSICAL FITNESS - 25KG DEADLIFT	FITNESS TRAINING
	Physical fitness - no pregnancy	Policy against pregnancy before trade test Policy for the timeframe before pregnancy is allowed in the workplace
EDUCATION	Matric Science and Maths Diesel Mechanic engineering certificate	Narrowed the window for acceptance
RETENTION	Max 2 taxi rides distance from workplace	Reduced amount that would later be turned away
BEHAVIOURS	Discipline and courteousness	Instilled behaviours, punctuality, communications skills, etiquette, basic office procedures
DETERMINATION	Work and study 4 years	Choice to leave or sweat it out narrowed group
MENTAL FITNESS	Human interaction, how to succeed, manage types of managers	Training on mental fitness and the do's and don'ts as a woman in a man's workspace
WORK DUTIES AND REQUIREMENTS	Well - rounded individual	Questioned on personal ability to fulfil duties in given time - some backed out

When probed on Harambee’s next steps, Mandi responds that women, specifically, have been terribly impacted by the unemployment crisis. Harambee hopes to solve this by developing an ecosystem of facilitators to engage the youth as an entirety as they embark on the new model of sector-level job creation. Harambee will focus on gender equity and social inclusion strategies which will identify barriers from both the employer and employee’s sides while encouraging the adoption of a maternity policy among companies.

This is a genuine issue experienced by many young women who are being turned away because of pregnancies, as they are seen as hindrances due to time away from work for maternity leave. Harambee has quite a number of goals lined up. Still, one of its aims within these goals is to provide informative data for the youth to study the basics of finance management, which very few South African youth understand. There is a view that many young people are turning to a life of crime because of unemployment, and if valid, how do we encourage young people to be resilient in such difficult times?

Mandi’s response sheds even more light on the lengths Harambee are willing to go to ensure the youth do not get lost along the way. “By forming partnerships with NYDA, TSHEPO 1 MILLION and others, we can reach out to communities drowning in unemployment and poverty. Educational dialogues and training seminars are often used to engage the youth, teaching them topics like how to keep yourself occupied if you are currently unemployed and providing simple solutions to prevent them from turning to a life of crime, like volunteer work, for instance, and the different ways to become actively engaged in projects or free study courses”.

Every single initiative embarked on goes a long way.

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