Abstract
Youth unemployment is a significant dilemma that most countries around the globe encounter. In South Africa, the youth unemployment rate has been rising, even with the government’s implementation of development initiatives to alleviate youth joblessness. This study analyses development initiatives against youth unemployment, using the province of KwaZulu-Natal as a case study. This is to assess how effective youth development initiatives have been in attaining their objectives of improving youth employability and youth empowerment, and if not, identifying the failures that impede this progress. The government and relevant stakeholders introduced many youth development initiatives to address and combat the increasing youth unemployment dilemma, promote the culture of youth entrepreneurship and skills development, provide young people with meaningful job opportunities, and lead a meaningful life. The study’s objectives were achieved by adopting a qualitative single-case study method. A thematic analysis of gathered data revealed that the barriers to youth employment in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, include, among others, a lack of adequate education, a lack of appropriate skills and a mismatch of skills, a lack of information and social networks, a lack of career guidance, a lack of work experience, corruption, and geographical area and costs of job hunting. Findings revealed that most initiative goals were met, as some young individuals were absorbed in employment, acquiring experience, skills and income to help sustain themselves and their families. However, the study uncovered numerous shortcomings in the initiatives, which hindered their ability to offer long-term employment, resulting in beneficiaries (youth) remaining unemployed for an extended period post-programme. The study makes several recommendations to ensure that the empowerment and development of youth lead to collective action.