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Johannesburg - The "racist and patriarchal" practices encountered by many black interns had to be challenged, Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande said on Friday.
Nzimande, who is also the SA Communist Party's general secretary, was speaking at a Young Communist League Jobs for Youth Summit in Johannesburg.
He said employers had to ensure that workplaces were not just places to boost the bottom line, but were also centres of training, and platforms to nurture talent.
"We must also confront and expose racist and patriarchal practices which many young people encounter during internships and workplace training," he said.
"The youth organisations represented here must play an active role in supporting young people confronted with discriminatory
practices, and challenge employers who abuse interns."
Some interns passed well at university only to be "frustrated out of a profession" by hostile workplace training environments, Nzimande said.
He defended Defence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu's recent proposal for national youth service, saying it was was not military service as it was sometimes projected.
"We must condemn the hypocrisy of some of those opposed to this idea, as some of them were first in the queue and never opposed
military service under apartheid, a conscription that was aimed at arming young white South Africans against the majority black youth," he said.
He encouraged youth organisations to engage on the draft National Skills Development Strategy and give feedback on it.
The final document would be the roadmap for skills development over the next five years.
- Sapa
Nzimande, who is also the SA Communist Party's general secretary, was speaking at a Young Communist League Jobs for Youth Summit in Johannesburg.
He said employers had to ensure that workplaces were not just places to boost the bottom line, but were also centres of training, and platforms to nurture talent.
"We must also confront and expose racist and patriarchal practices which many young people encounter during internships and workplace training," he said.
"The youth organisations represented here must play an active role in supporting young people confronted with discriminatory
practices, and challenge employers who abuse interns."
Some interns passed well at university only to be "frustrated out of a profession" by hostile workplace training environments, Nzimande said.
He defended Defence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu's recent proposal for national youth service, saying it was was not military service as it was sometimes projected.
"We must condemn the hypocrisy of some of those opposed to this idea, as some of them were first in the queue and never opposed
military service under apartheid, a conscription that was aimed at arming young white South Africans against the majority black youth," he said.
He encouraged youth organisations to engage on the draft National Skills Development Strategy and give feedback on it.
The final document would be the roadmap for skills development over the next five years.
- Sapa
