Unemployed Graduates Protest
Unemployed Graduates in their graduation regalia from 19 points around the Eastern Cape province, picketed on Wednesday and staged peaceful protests. They appealed to both government and business to employ them.
This campaign, which has caught the attention of the public and social media users was aimed at creating awareness to the Minister of Finance before his 2017 Budget Speech that drastic economic transformation must translate to creation of jobs. Under the banner of the #HireAGraduate, young people throughout the province were resolute and firm to express their frustration.
One of the protestors, Athi Zembe had this to say, “Our parents took loans from banks for us to get educated. Now that we have graduated, we thought we shall easily find jobs to help our parents pay back these loans. Even government plays with our emotions by giving us internships and not employing us thereafter!”