"The index – by IQbusiness in partnership with global non-profit organisation, the Social Progress Imperative - is a quality of life metric, meaning it aims to determine and quantify the quality of life for a young person in the country. The three dimensions to the index are basic human needs, foundations of well-being, and opportunity dimension.
Aaccording to the index, young people in the North West have a poorer quality of life as compared to in other provinces owing to perceived discrimination on the basis of age, gender and race.
The index which references several other pieces of research including that done by the Human Sciences Research Council, shows that over 17% of young people in the province have been discriminated against, whilst 18% of households in the province are deemed to be informal. The North West is also amongst three provinces in South Africa where youth outcomes have regressed between 2015 and 2021. It joins the Western and the Eastern Cape in that regard.
Shaneel Bachoo from IQbusiness previously told the OFM Business Hour that the index aims to move beyond thinking that the creation of employment and/or business opportunities is the fulfilment of the country’s responsibility to young people.
The report’s release comes as poor service delivery conditions in the North West have again come under scrutiny, with the revelation that 13 local municipalities in the province are in financial distress and are on the brink of collapse from a service delivery perspective. North West Finance MEC Motlalepula Rosho recently said that over half of municipalities’ financial systems and governance and financial information are deficient.
Following a five year assessment on these distressed local municipalities, the MEC says they will have to rebuild the internal control, make sure that they adhere to concerns of the Auditor General such as non-compliance.
Rosho adds that these municipalities need to stabilise themselves and further adds for municipalities to stabilise to it doesn’t necessarily speak into pumping money to them.
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