Implementation analysis of the KwaZulu-Natal Social Development Policy on Youth Development (2020) with focus on Youth Mobilisation and Skills Development Programme : a case study of Umvoti Local Municipality.

Abstract

Post 1994 youth in South Africa still face challenges, including a high unemployment rate, low educational qualifications, poverty, and health-related challenges. The democratic government implemented some strategies through youth-directed policies and legislative frameworks, to mitigate some of these challenges. The KwaZulu-Natal Social Development Policy on Youth Development (2020) is one of the policies that provides a framework for engaging youth to participate in socio-economic activities. The study thus investigated the implementation of this policy in Umvoti Local Municipality, in the Department of Social Development. The main objective of the study was to understand the experiences of the implementing agents, and the beneficiaries of the programme. Qualitative research methods were employed to gain deeper insights into the lived experiences of policy implementers and policy beneficiaries. In-depth interviews were conducted with ten officials: government implementing agents, community development practitioners, social workers and service office managers, and nine Youth NPOs working in the municipality and 55 beneficiaries of the policy. The findings of the study indicated that the policy is implemented without sufficient knowledge of its content, there is no role clarification for the implementing agents, and they only serve as the link with the community. Many challenges were also highlighted, including the lack of resources, poor planning on the part of the implementers, duplication of information due to poor communication, as well as the lack of post-programme support to youth who would have completed the programme. These challenges are caused by poor coordination and lack of role clarifications within implementers. This impact negatively to policy result in terms of meeting immediate, medium and long term individual youth needs. In light of these findings, several recommendations are made, including the need for proper guidelines on the recruitment of the beneficiaries, multisectoral collaborations for knowledge and resource sharing, as well as implementing a tracking system for post-programme support.