Abstract: Submission #65

Abstract South Africa has various government led youth initiatives and institutions including the National Youth Development Agency and the Presidential Youth Employment Service. Though this is the case, South African youth face various social and economic challenges in achieving their desired transitions from childhood into adulthood. These challenges include high unemployment, lack of economic opportunities, skills and training, work experience and social capital. Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 17 puts emphasis in the role of collaborations between governmental and non-governmental entities in meeting the SDGs. Community-based organizations act as grassroots organizations that are a product community to address the challenges experienced by local communities. Through the lens of the African philosophy of Ubudlelane - which fosters a culture of empathy, compassion, collaboration and community support, the study examined the role of community-based organizations in youth development in QwaQwa. Data was collected through focus group discussions and open-ended interviews. Narrative analysis was used to analyse the data. The study found that youth are despondent regarding government agencies, as a result they rely on community-based organizations to achieve their youth to adult transition aspirations. The study underscores the role played by community-based organizations in youth development the face of despondency and apathy regarding government youth lead agencies and institutions. The study contributes to knowledge on how the professions of community development and social work can strengthen governmental and non-governmental entities can strengthen collaborations towards rural youth development.
Key words: Community-based organizations, Ubudlelane, youth transition aspirations, youth development, QwaQwa