Hon Speaker, the Youth Employment Accord is a good summary of the multipronged strategy on youth employment. It identifies six key areas of support for youth employment, and they are the following: firstly, improving education and training opportunities so that we provide the basis for lifelong employability; secondly, work exposure through job placement schemes and internships to provide young people with their first experience of working life; thirdly, youth targets set aside in particular industries, especially in growing industries such as public infrastructure, construction, the green economy and business process services so that these become youth centred industries; fourthly, large-scale youth brigades in the context of existing public employment schemes to integrate many efforts of government and to provide the bridge between unemployment and permanent employment; fifthly, increased support for youth entrepreneurship and youth co-operatives to empower youth to run enterprises and create jobs; and lastly, work with the private sector to expand the intake of young people so that the responsibility to ensure that we use the talent of young people is carried by both the private and public sectors.
Given time constraints, I can only provide some examples of progress against our commitment in the accord. I draw attention to the Presidential Youth Indaba that was held over the weekend, where a more detailed and comprehensive report on progress was given. The first two pillars, education and training, with stronger job placement and internships, are central to government's overall programme of investment in our young people.
It is only possible to mention some highlights. To start with, the new White Paper on Higher Education and Training and Further Education and Training promises to more than double the number of young people in the further education and training, FET, colleges and universities over the coming 15 years, as well as strengthening lifelong learning through new community colleges.
Over the past two years, accommodation for more than 4 200 students has been completed at universities. Two new universities and 12 new campuses for the FET colleges are under construction, making it the biggest new university and FET college building programme in the past 30 years.
In line with education and skills support, government is forging closer ties between enterprises, especially state-owned companies and the education and training system. To give just one example, Transnet has acquired R175 million from the National Skills Fund to train an additional 1 000 artisan trainees for the national pool over three years, starting in October last year.
I have been informed by the Department of Economic Development, which is tasked with the responsibility to monitor youth employment trends, that in terms of enterprise development, in April 2013 the Industrial Development Corporation, IDC, set aside R1 billion for youth entrepreneurship programmes. As of December 2013, the total cumulative financing for youth- owned enterprises by the IDC came to R67 million in that financial year.
The Small Enterprise Finance Agency Sefa, allocated R1,7 billion for youth entrepreneurs. Funding for youth-linked projects worth R126 million has been dispersed by Sefa through its agencies. Both the IDC and Sefa are now working closely with the National Youth Development Agency, NYDA, to publicise the fund among young people. For the period from April to September, the NYDA spent R21,8 million on its youth enterprise projects, benefiting about 16 000 young people.
Specific examples are provinces such as Gauteng, which procured goods and services worth over R425 million from youth enterprises, impacting on a total of 5 105 youths as of June. Mpumalanga spent R1,4 million to support five co-operatives with 1 300 members. The Eastern Cape provided R24 million to 129 small and medium enterprises, SMEs, and trained 34 throughout to the end of 2013.
With regard to set-asides for youth in fast growing industries, the Minister of Trade and Industry recently issued a directive to the Business Process Services Sector to ensure that 80% of jobs will go to the youth in the future. The Presidential Infrastructure Co-ordinating Commission, PICC, survey of 20 major projects recorded over 43 000 youth jobs with over 15 000 employed in Kusile and Medupi alone. Youth brigades will build on existing public ... [Time expired.]