graduate thumb100 SowetanLive reports that Nkululeko Ndlovu wore his graduation gown on the lawns of Union Buildings in Pretoria on Tuesday to make a statement about his six years' struggle to find a job.  

From Ulundi in KwaZulu-Natal, the 28-year old graduated six years ago with a BTech accounting degree and has been unemployed ever since.  On Monday, Ndlovu joined a group of 15 unemployed graduates who boarded a bus from Durban to Pretoria to hand over a memorandum of demands to President Cyril Ramaphosa.  He accused the government of "playing with young people's lives" by offering two-year internship programmes while prospective employers looked for three years’ experience from graduates.  Another graduate, Lindokuhle Khumalo, 24, said he had been applying for employment for four years now with no luck.  “There is no one working at home.  I am now that graduate who sweeps people's floors to put food on the table," Khumalo said.  He pleaded for the president to make plans for unemployed graduates “because depression will kill us.”  A government official accepted the memorandum on behalf of Ramaphosa and promised to respond to the demands after seven days.


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