South Africa is battling a ticking time bomb of youth unemployment at 60%, but the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) leadership is more concerned about who is leaking information from within the entity.
Consequently, the NYDA is currently undergoing a procurement process to appoint forensic investigators to find out who is leaking information from within the agency.
The agency wants to throw the money into the forensic probe while young people are in desperate need of economic opportunities, and that is the core mandate of the NYDA.
The country is well into the “Youth Month”, and at the top of the agenda for NYDA is embarking on a witch hunt to unmask whistleblowers.
Well, according to NYDA chairperson Dr Sunshine Myende, the probe is not a witch hunt against whistleblowers because she believes that her electronic devices were hacked.
‘My emails are hacked’
“What is at stake is the fact that as a board chair, I have a suspicion that my emails or laptop are hacked; that is where everything comes from,” said Myende during a press briefing on Thursday.
“There have been emails or information that were sent to a few that are in the public domain, and some of the things have been in the public domain before a board meeting.
“At the centre of everything, I have a suspicion myself as a board chairperson that I have been hacked, so it also speaks to issues of cybersecurity. There is information that only I and a few people knew about that has been in the public domain when it is not a witch hunt on anyone.”
Myende’s trip to New York
What is interesting is that the NYDA leadership is yet to dispute the factual basis of the media reports about the entity.
This would include the cost of Myende’s trip to New York last year, information of which was in the hands of no less than a handful of people, including officials at the ministry of youth in the presidency.
There is no hacking of electronics that happened except for well-meaning state functionaries who were of the view that the cost of the trip was unjustified given the daily realities facing young people in the country.
The latest reports have been about the forensic probe itself, which reports have now been confirmed on the record by the NYDA leadership.
Again, hacking does not arise because these are now fully established facts.
Unnecessary forensic investigation
What makes matters worse, the NYDA top brass still does not know the potential cost of the clearly irregular, fruitless, and wasteful expenditure that will be occasioned by the unnecessary forensic investigation.
“The budget for the forensic investigation is still under RFQ (request for quotations), so we are still waiting for the consolidated responses in terms of what the quotations that the agency receives in this particular exercise are,” said NYDA chief executive Ndumiso Kubheka.
“It is a government risk and compliance issue. Cyber security threats are on the rise; even financial institutions are being threatened with elevated levels of cyber threats. It becomes important, therefore, for the agency to assess whether there are systems failure or leakages that need to be addressed to strengthen the integrity of the institution.”
Doom and gloom for youth
Cry the economically disenfranchised youth of South Africa; you are on your own, and no one is coming to save you.
Those entrusted with the privileged responsibility to become a solution to your problems are more pressed about information that is already in the public domain.
What is glaring is that the forensic probe is a witch-hunt meant to settle differences between warring NYDA leaders.
Blood on the floor
Those close enough to the developments at NYDA, such as this scribe, can tell you that there is blood on the floor at the highest echelons of the agency.
It is a battle for control of resources, some of which is the R1.3bn Presidential Youth Service initiative allocation.
The NYDA government shareholder, Minister of Youth Sindisiwe Chikunga, knows about the turf war and is not doing anything to douse the fires.
The portfolio committee of youth knows about it and has hauled NYDA top brass before them to account, but their roles end there.
But it is your money, the taxpayer, that must be spent frivolously to unearth whistleblowers.
This is not how banana republics are birthed; South Africa is urging closer and closer ties if these types of shenanigans are allowed to fly with impunity.
- South Africa faces a severe youth unemployment crisis at 60%, while the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) prioritizes investigating internal leaks over creating economic opportunities for young people.
- NYDA is conducting a forensic probe to identify who leaked information, which leadership justifies due to suspicions of hacking, particularly concerning NYDA chairperson Dr. Sunshine Myende’s electronic devices.
- Media reports about NYDA’s controversial expenses, including Myende’s costly trip to New York, remain undisputed by leadership, indicating that the leaks reflect factual information rather than hacked data.
- The forensic investigation’s budget is still unknown, raising concerns about the misuse of taxpayer money on what appears to be an internal power struggle within NYDA, particularly over control of significant youth development funds.
- Critics argue that political infighting and poor leadership at NYDA are neglecting South Africa's urgent youth employment needs, risking further damage to the agency’s credibility and the country’s democratic integrity.
