Evaluating the Role of Youth in Local Economic Development within the Bushbuckridge Local Municipality, Mpumalanga Province

Description

Page: 340-347

Adam Z. Sibiya, Daniel N. Mlambo, and Livhuwani L. Ndou (Department of Public Management, Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa)

The need for youth participation in Local Economic Development (LED) programs within the Bushbuckridge Municipality aims to organize and employ local resources to improve all community stakeholders’ lives while making a specific place more competitive. On the other hand, the climate of violence, injustice, and poverty hinders the success of LED projects in Bushbuckridge. This article proposes that the Bushbuckridge local municipality create and sustain meaningful youth employment programs and ensure sufficient investment in appropriate skills development and training programs. The progress of LED is in doubt because of social injustices and pervasive poverty linked to youth unemployment. A literature review was carried out to understand better the role of young practices in local government in South Africa, specifically in the Bushbuckridge municipality. This article took a qualitative approach to enable a comparison of municipal interventions in the role of youth in economic growth, giving a clearer understanding of how effectively economic transformation development is progressing concerning other municipalities.