DA wants to see the Tshepo 1 Million programme back in action
The delays have been blamed on issues with licensing and the alignment of school programmes.
According to a statement released by the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) Solly Msimanga, the Office of the Premier in Gauteng had failed to meet its target of training 200 000 economically excluded youth as part of the Pathways to Earning through the Tshepo 1 Million programme. The party said it was concerned by the delays and resultant consequences, with only 127 426 economically excluded youth being placed through the programme. This information was revealed in the fourth quarterly report for the Office of the Premier for the 2019/2020 financial year.
In the statement, Msimanga lambasted the premier saying, “It is concerning that Premier David Makhura’s office failed to meet its set target for this year as our youth are in desperate need of training and skills development. His office is failing to lead by example yet he is always talking about creating employment opportunities for the youth.” According to the DA, the report cites delays in preparation from both Microsoft licensing and alignment with the school programme as the source of the problem. Due to this, the Tshepo 1 Million programme could not commence during the fourth quarter of the year.
The Tshepo 1 Million programme was launched in 2017 with the aim of empowering one million young people through skills training, job placement and entrepreneurship development. These youths would then be better equipped to find sustainable jobs. Tshepo is a Setswana word which means hope/trust. The project initially aimed to help 500 000 young people under the name Tshepo 500 000 but due to its early success and the enthusiasm shown by private sector companies, the target was doubled to 1 million.
Msimanga said, “I will be tabling further questions in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature to ascertain what measures will be put in place to ensure that the targets set for the Tshepo 1 Million projects are met.”
