Informal trader on a mission to help youth fight unemployment
Skilled community members may be a solution to the high unemployment levels, says an informal trader.
An informal trader, Christina Makhubela (51) has urged the youth to seek skills and knowledge from older members of community to fight against high levels of unemployment and poverty in South Africa.
Makhubela has been knitting and selling bead products for more than 10 years in the CBD.
Levels of unemployment have increased drastically in the country.
According to the latest statistics, released by Statistic South Africa in the third quarter last year, the unemployment rate hit a record high of 30.8% in the country.
READ MORE: Four busted for R2.3m ‘fake brands’ in CBD
“Doing nothing about the effects the poor economy is having on our youth is a recipe for disaster,” Makhubela said.
She said frustration emanating from lack of job opportunities sometimes influenced people to abuse drugs and alcohol.
Ultimately, some would even commit crime, which becomes a problem for everyone in the country.
“Alcohol abuse may influence some people to behave badly such as stabbing or shooting others.”
She said this may be attributed to the fact that “it had been recently widely reported that alcohol abuse had contributed to crime as well as road accidents, which on the other side put a strain on hospitals amid the Covid-19 pandemic”.
Photo: Ron Sibiya
“Although I am not attempting to justify crime, this suggests that poverty sometimes influences people to commit crime with an aim of alleviating hunger,” she said.
Increasing levels of crime put everybody at risk of being a victim of crime such as robbery, which sometime leads to even loss of lives, she said.
“The worst effects of poverty may, however, be avoided if older people work with our youth to prepare them to alleviate poverty through honest ways of making a living.”
Makhubela said to contribute in solving the unemployment problem in Pretoria, she was working on her plan to teach unemployed youth skills of knitting beads to make and sell traditional attires.
“Knitting beads helps me support my children and alleviate poverty, it can, therefore, assist others too.”
She said lack of resources is the only challenge delaying her from starting the charity project to help unemployed youth.
“I need someone to donate beads to run this project.”
She said she was willing to offer her skills and time for the benefit of the youth.
Makhubela’s love for working with beads started from the age of 10.
She said she learnt the knitting beads skill from the elders. Struggling to find employment prompted her later decide to run an informal business in the Capital City since 2010.
“I have no regret for my decision as I am currently looking forward to becoming a formal trader.”
Do you have more information about the story?
Please send us an email to editorial@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.
For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East
For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram
