Management and implementation of youth development programmes in Mpumalanga province: an evaluation of the National Youth Service (NYS) programme implemented by the Department of Public Works

Research Report submitted in accordance with the requirements For the degree of Master of Management (MM) in the subject Public and Development Management at University of Witwatersrand MARCH 2015This study evaluated the management and implementation of the National Youth Service (NYS) Programme launched in July 1997 by the Department of Public Works (DoPW) in Mpumalanga Province. It explored the implementation challenges affecting the NYS over three year period. In order to respond to the above the research applied different qualitative data collection and analytical methods. The research found implementation challenges including, a lack of NYS Implementing structure in the responsible Department, poor planning and allocation of requisite financial resources leading to delayed payment of stipend for learners plus procurement challenges. Further, the study went on evaluate outcomes of the NYS in relation to both its objectives and to the specific objectives of the implementing agent i.e., DoPW in order to thereby draw lessons learnt and best practices for management and implementation of youth development programmes. The researcher concludes by observing that the NYS programme has great potential for employment creation and skill development for the intended beneficiaries. However, the NYS implementation requires intensive planning, resource allocation, training of implementing staff and timeous payments of beneficiaries as key success factors to the programm