NPO warns youth unemployment crisis deepening mental health struggles
Afrika Tikkun says stress, anxiety, and depression are on the rise among jobless youth, with many suffering in silence due to stigma.
CapeTalk’s Sara-Jayne Makwala King is joined by Afrika Tikkun Chief Operating Officer, Tiyani Mohlaba.
Listen to their conversation in the audio clip below.
The youth unemployment crisis in South Africa is not just about a lack of jobs, it’s about emotional survival.
According to StatsSA, 4.8 million young people between 15 and 34 are currently unemployed.
But behind that staggering figure lies a much deeper crisis, one that’s taking a toll on mental health.
"We have a serious problem amongst young people who are not in education, in training, nor are they employed."
- Tiyani Mohlaba, Afrika Tikkun Chief Operating Officer
"...most of them, when they get into our learnerships, for example, those that manage to go through our skills development programmes, they tend to also be expected to provide, use the stipend basically to provide livelihood for the family...with that comes a lot of stress."
- Tiyani Mohlaba, Afrika Tikkun Chief Operating Officer
"...some of them actually end up dropping out because it's too much for them. Then they start to experiment with alcohol and some to a large extent, basically get depressed, anxious. We see that when they come back through our programmes, they tend to have serious mental health issues, ideation around suicide, lack of interpersonal skills, leading to physical violence sometimes."
- Tiyani Mohlaba, Afrika Tikkun Chief Operating Officer
Afrika Tikkun is a non-profit organisation (NPO) that has supported more than 100,000 families over the past 20 years with psychosocial support services.
The NPO provides more than just job training, they also focus on early mental health intervention.
Social workers, parenting support, and peer groups are built into their programmes to help create emotional resilience from the ground up.
"Most of these young people who come through our programmes, some of them don't even know how to put their CV together. Beyond that, they can't even present themselves in an interview in a way that will be convincing to the prospective employer that we want this candidate..."
- Tiyani Mohlaba, Afrika Tikkun Chief Operating Officer
For Mohlaba, the way forward is stronger collaboration.
He’s calling on corporate South Africa to be part of the solution by helping align training with real-world needs.
"...there's a direct link between what we train young people on versus what the private sector is prepared to absorb... and that's the challenge where we see young people graduating funded through higher education institutions..."
- Tiyani Mohlaba, Afrika Tikkun Chief Operating Officer
"We're saying to corporate South Africa, tell us in the next three to five years, what are the required skills from your workforce that you'll be employing during that period. And let's work together to put together a training programme, a skills programme that will make sure that these young people that we're bringing through our skills programmes can be employed, sustainably so."
- Tiyani Mohlaba, Afrika Tikkun Chief Operating Officer
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