Stakeholders push for the 4th revolution

Stakeholders attending the Inner-City Partnership Forum held on 26 February have called on the City of Johannesburg to join hands and support initiatives in line with the revitalisation of the area and the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR).

The forum hosted by Mayor Herman Mashaba and attended by MMCs and various stakeholders was aimed at promoting private and public partnership for the development of the city and its people. The stakeholders included FNB, TUHF, Citiq Group, MADdD Programme, Joburg Inner City Tourism Association, City Kidz, Makers Way Project, Diversity Urban Renewal, Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator, the UJ-Peets Programme and the Johannesburg Development Agency.

Thobile Chittenden from the MADdD programme, based at Alhambra Theatre, said there was a massive gap which existed in public schools for creative and art subjects including music, drama, arts, dance and design.

While they offer the mentioned activities for high school children, Chittenden said there was a need for more programmes of this nature to enhance creativity among the youth to prepare them for the 4IR era which requires creativity and critical thinking to make them relevant to the world and employment market.

Sylvester Moepya from Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator revealed that they had developed the installation, maintenance and repair programme to equip youth with artisan skills to be employable and to tap into the entrepreneurial world. More than 80 graduates of the programme have been placed in various developments in the city. Visit www.midrandreporter.co.za for more.

“There is also youth who haven’t done the maths and science subjects at school but with this programme, we are including those excluded into digital and 4IR-related fields,” said Moepya.

Although there are projects and tools in place to activate young people in the 4IR, Nickey Janse van Rensburg from the University of Johannesburg said high data costs were the main challenge that was preventing their goals from reaching fruition. She said young people have come up with innovations around energy, sanitation, urban farming and many others. She also said that there were software and tools available to make monitoring of work around the city effective including in programmes such as the Expanded Public Works Programme and Pikitup.

“The youth is having tools and software which is not expensive but data has been a problem due to the high prices. We request that data be made available to also enable the young people to explore and grow into the 4th Industrial Revolution,” she said.

Mashaba said it was clear that the private sector shared the City’s vision of turning the inner city into an inclusive space where people can live, work, and play. “There are various projects on the table that will see unique developments that speak to a better quality of life for all who venture to the inner city. With the 300 000 housing backlog that we have inherited, this initiative will provide affordable accommodation to residents, students and SMMEs working with the private sector,” he said.

Related article:

https://midrandreporter.co.za/207914/joburg-mayor-herman-mashaba-hosts-inner-city-partnership-forum/