In answer to questions posed by the DA’s Tsholofelo Motshidi in the latest council meeting, the Member of the Mayoral Committee for Corporate Services, Phelisa Nkunjana, reported that the inaugural Youth Career Expo, held in Alberton in 2013, resulted in 531 unemployed youths being placed as interns for a period of 12 months.
Of which, 377 had been taken on by metro departments such as Risk Management Services, Waste Management and ICT.
“The DA strongly believes in promoting job creation, but based on the vast numbers of young people who queued for hours last year, the measly result of 531 jobs was not good enough, particularly because the jobs offered were short-term internships and not full-time positions,” said Motshidi.
“Considering that no real jobs were created, this price tag essentially means that these events become a public relations exercise to promote the metro and the Mayor without actually achieving anything of value. ”
When asked how the planning of this year’s event would differ from last year’s, Nkunjana reported that the Career Expo and the Job Summit would be held as two separate events.
However, Nkunjana gave no indication that Ekurhuleni had begun planning early enough or even learned anything from the teething problems experienced in the first year.
“Logic dictates that there will be even more young people coming out this year for the prospect of a job and therefore it is imperative that the metro plans this year’s events properly.
“The only way to get real value out of the expenditure is to ensure that real jobs prospects are provided and that the jobs created are long term and sustainable.”
