Half a million jobs for Kliptown youth
Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development launched a new job centre in Kliptown.
Member of the Executive Council (MEC) Nandi Mayathula-Khoza of the Gauteng Department of the Infrastructure Development launched a new Kliptown Job Launch Centre at Walter Sisulu Square.
The purpose of the programme is to increase the number of jobcentres already placed around Johannesburg to 100 as 75 are already in existence.,
“Young people are supposed to be active economically but they are not but they are not because they don’t have jobs
So this is one of the programmes we are rolling out Tsepo 500 000 to get nothing less than half a million people into skills development, entrepreneurship and employment.
It has 4 pillars that also have a pillar of placing, and getting them into a transition of programmes so that we eventually see these young people being in a sustainable employment environment,” said Mayathula- Khoza.
Since 2014 when the programme started, over 4000 young women have been absorbed into environments of employment.
Being the oldest residential area in Soweto formed in 1891 and home to late political activist Charlotte Maxeke, the area has great historical relevance in Soweto.
March 2016 statistics show that of the 26.7% unemployed individuals in Gauteng, 54% of that number are young people.
“We believe the centre will afford young people from the age of 18-35 of this community job that are sustainable in order to take care of themselves in order to alleviate poverty.
To be able to better not only themselves but the lives of others as well because we believe that when they are doing well for themselves they will want to plough back into the community,” said Mayathula Khoza.
Already there are job centres in Diepkloof, Dobsonville, Orlando East and the Pimville communities in Soweto that have been made available to the youth, unemployed graduates and the like to register their details.
There is also a number young people can SMS their name and city or suburb to assist them in finding the nearest job centre located to their area which is 45490.
Thulisile Nakambe a young graduate who benefited from the programme said, “We were lucky enough to be hired on the same day we registered because they needed extra hands at the centre.
The people that we work with here are very disadvantaged because there is an informal settlement close by.
Tsepo 500 000 is promising, though, because even if you are not a qualified graduate you can still register your details for leadership and skill developments, so I’m calling all youth to come and register.”
