TSB promotes rural careers

MALALANE – The South African agricultural sector, which has diversified operations across a value chain extending from farms to consumers, should be considered a possible employer capable of providing a wide range of career opportunities for school leavers and professionals alike.-

This is the message that TSB will drive home during the TSB Selati Career Expo, which will be held on 12 to 14 March in collaboration with provincial department of education, the National Youth Development Agency and TUT.-

The expo will be held at TSB’s Training Centre in Malalane.-

Visitors to the expo will take part in informative activities, including guided tours of TSB’s sugar mill facilities, attending workshops about career compatibility, and listening to short informative presentations on a broad spectrum of careers.-

“Conversations about unemployment in South Africa, which is running at about 25 per cent, are often accompanied by an acknowledgement that jobs in urban areas are few,” says Amber Ndlovu-Wudebwe, general manager of human resources at TSB.-

“As a result, TSB supports initiatives that make rural areas in the sugar-cane growing region a viable source of employment.

This is possible through the provision of quality education and training as well as broadening the base for economic growth and sustainable livelihoods.-

“By emphasising the creation of meaningful employment in rural areas, the TSB Selati Career Expo encourages youth to consider careers in the countryside rather than leave for urban areas, a shift in thinking that will certainly benefit the whole country.”-

TSB strongly believes that rural areas have the potential of creating positions for unskilled as well as skilled artisans and professionals.-

The sector directly employs about 638 000 people and creates indirect opportunities for 8,5 million others.

In the agricultural sector, the sugar industry alone employs about 79 000 people and creates job opportunities for 350 000 more.-

The expo hopes to give ample career direction to grade nine learners, all coming from the Nkomazi, Lebombo, Malalane and Khulangwane circuits, so that they know about various career options in their own backyard even before they finish school.

In this way the expo is geared towards fighting youth unemployment, a prevalent challenge in the area where TSB operates.-

Visitors to the expo will also have the opportunity to apply for bursaries under the TSB, Hexagon Trust and Sugar Industry Trust-Fund for Education (SITFE) bursary programmes.-

“TSB, as a major employer in Mpumalanga and one of the province’s largest sources of revenue, regards the career expo as a meaningful contribution to the community’s development.

Given that the area is remote from urban areas, it is special events such as this expo that help to create awareness among people about the many job opportunities in the region.-

“Furthermore, the expo identifies people with potential who could benefit from opportunities that TSB provides.

By helping with applicants’ personal development and creating opportunities for them, we can significantly help reduce the high unemployment level that causes so many social ills,” says Ndlovu-Wudebwe