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Cape Town - The employment tax incentive bill is a step towards reversing alarmingly high levels of youth unemployment, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Thursday.
Tabling the legislation in the National Assembly, along with three other money bills, he warned that South Africa had "some of the highest rates of unemployment" in the world.
"The incidence of unemployment is highest among young people. This means [they] are denied the opportunity to gain skills and experience that will enable them to build future careers."
About 94% of unemployed young people did not have further or tertiary education, and about 80% had never worked, or had been employed for longer than a year.
"These are alarming indicators," Gordhan told MPs.
The bill proposes a youth wage subsidy aimed at encouraging employers, through tax incentives, to take on young people aged from 18 to 29.
Gordhan on Thursday also tabled the merchant shipping (International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund) contributions bill, the taxation laws amendment bill, and the customs duty bill.
