Jozi@Work, a development programme of the city, is steaming along towards implementation through community partnerships.
This was evident recently when city officials engaged the community of Alexandra on the next steps in the programme. The programme is part of the provincial and national agenda for revitalising township economies and the radical transformation of the economy. The programme’s aim is to engage communities in local development projects for financial reward.
City officials engaged the community at Sankopano Community Centre where they advised them on the programme content, registration for partnerships and follow-up processes.
Bongani Mabuse of the mayor’s office said the programme was an opportunity for the community to participate in their development, while solving local challenges and benefiting economically. He said this will also contribute to the national agenda of reducing inequality and poverty through job creation.
The programme he said, was part of the extended public works programme and would render direct benefits to the community through registered local cooperatives and companies, but will not benefit the well-connected subcontractors. He added that the engaged partners will be expected to be skilled in the preferred areas of work and will receive the city’s assistance through apprenticeships which will benefit them when seeking other work opportunities. Also, a capacity support agency will assist the partners with other skills to enhance their operation and management capacity and with enterprise development. This will include procurement processes, access to facilities and equipment and compliance with statutory requirements like tax registration. The programme’s work packages will be in agriculture, water, energy, greening services, construction, maintenance and waste management.
Mabuse further advised the residents that there will be other follow-up engagement processes by regional forums and city departments officials to clarify details of the work packages.
