CDM promotes youth entrepreneurship

Capricorn District Municipality (CDM) strives to promote entrepreneurship among the youth of the district and the municipality’s 2017 District School Entrepreneurship Competition that was hosted at a venue in the city on Friday represented a new approach to CDM’s local economic transformation agenda.
Learners from Gerson Ntjie Secondary School in the Polokwane municipal area, Mance Secondary School in Blouberg and Matladi Project High School in Lepelle-Nkumpi participated in the competition.
In his keynote address, CDM Executive Mayor John Mpe said the district municipality aims to create a platform to impart knowledge about entrepreneurship to learners and instil in them the spirit and enthusiasm to become future business leaders. “We want them to leave school with a spirit of entrepreneurship so they can venture into various sectors to create jobs and grow the economy. This will enable youths to become job creators rather than job seekers. We are mindful of the belief that not everyone is cut out to be a business person, and we want to defuse this myth. It is this kind of mentality that demotivates and demoralises people who don’t know their true purpose and potential in life,” Mpe said. “The competition should be taken as a journey to finding yourself and applying your mind and identifying a gap on the market and venturing into a sector that will improve not only your life but of people around you, your community and our province,” Mpe advised.

According to Mpe, the competition forms part of CDM’s continuous efforts to offer entrepreneurial support and skills training programmes. “This we do with the understanding that schools and communities with an inherent culture of entrepreneurship have a greater chance of being self-sustaining. It is for this reason that we are targeting schools that offer entrepreneurship or business studies as a subject,” Mpe explained.
“Through competition, we can stimulate the spirit of entrepreneurship, unleash potential in young people and inspire and empower young minds to grow and develop as future entrepreneurs,” Mpe concluded.
The winners were Oscar Makgaba from Gerson Ntjie Secondary School, followed by Russel Mphahlele from Matladi Project High School and Mavis Hlako from Manoe Secondary School in the second and third places. They each received a medal, trophy, a laptop with bag, an MS Office package and a motivational book.

Story & photos: BARRY VILJOEN
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