![](https://images.caxton.co.za/wp-content/uploads/sites/36/2014/12/1450Ljoshco_51978.jpg)
THIS community empowerment and job creation programme by the City of Johannesburg is set to help township residents become professional and reliable service providers.
The Johannesburg Social Housing Company (JOSHCO) will be training a hundred and thirty (130) beneficiaries appointed through the Jozi@Work programme on October 3 at Orlando Ekhaya in Soweto. The training will be facilitated by Capability Support Agents (CSAs) that are appointed as admin support structures to each enterprise in the given sector as and when they are assigned a work package. The CSAs mandate includes facilitation of training workshops to give the SMMEs and cooperatives basic knowledge in line with the specific work package. This is mainly to create awareness on standards and procedures associated with the specific work package.
The training programme will focus on Health and Safety Standards and Procedures; risk management; the importance of displaying caution signs and notices; hazardous chemical and waste management. At the end of the training programme, the 130 beneficiaries will receive certificates of attendance and will be expected to easily identify potential hazards in and around their work environment; ensure compliance with the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) regulations; identify suitable Personal Protective Equipment/ clothing (PPEs); and to manage potential risk areas.
“The City of Johannesburg wishes to see all the SMMEs and cooperatives contracted through the Jozi@Work programme compete with reputable service providers on skills, knowledge, service quality and delivery on set targets,” says the MMC for Housing: Clr Dan Bovu.
JOSHCO lofted the Jozi@Work programme in June this year with ten SMMEs and cooperatives around Kliptown in Soweto being awarded work packages totalling R1.5-million to undertake remedial work at the Kliptown Golf Course. JOSHCO has invested a further R2.8m in cleaning packages awarded to 24 small businesses. This is in a bid to aid socio-economic transformation that will reduce poverty, inequality and unemployment in the seven regions across the City.