AfriForum Youth asks for proof of NYDA performance
AfriForum Youth questioned statements made by President Jacob Zuma in his speech at the Presidential Indaba on Youth Jobs and Skills, and sent a letter to the NYDA to request proof of their involvement in the creation of the 420 000 jobs to which Zuma had referred.
Zuma also announced that the NYSA would receive R10 million in funding.
“We want to know how many of the 420 000 jobs were created by the NYDA and how many of them were sustainable jobs instead of temporary or paper employment. It remains inexplicable that the NYDA receives millions from Government without having to provide proper proof of where and how the money is spent. It appears as if the NYDA is manipulating numbers on the eve of the election,” said Henk Maree, National Chair of AfriForum Youth.
“Members of the Board of this self-same organisation were investigated and arrested last year for corruption,” said Maree. The NYDA was in the news the past two years for inter alia the following:
- Andile Lungisa, former head of the NYDA, was arrested after alleged fraud to the amount of R 2.5 million.
- Exorbitant bonuses of 17-21% of the Directors’ annual salaries were paid.
- R14 million was spent on transport and entertainment in 2011/2012.
- R33 million was spent on communication and public liaison in 2011/2012.
“The millions awarded to the NYDA should rather be allocated to community and NROs where politics do not determine who the beneficiaries are. Communities should train people themselves and the promotion of entrepreneurship should be taken from the hands of government agents,” Maree said.
