ICT graduates in shock as internship suddenly ends

BCM appears to backtrack on jobs offer made in 2018

A group of 25 information and communications technology graduates had high hopes of working for Buffalo City Metro after qualifying in 2018.

The young people from Duncan Village and other areas around the metro graduated from a city initiative which helped them qualify with national certificates in IT systems.

At their graduation ceremony in 2018, the municipality told the graduates they would be employed by BCM.

But this has not gone according to plan.

Sandisa Mtsumguzi, 37, said: “At the end of April [2020] we asked to have a meeting with the acting head of department [in BCM] who said he didn’t know anything about us being permanently employed.

“We wrote to the mayor’s office but received no response. We’ve been sent from pillar to post and nobody seems to know about us being absorbed into the municipality. I resigned from my previous job to grab this opportunity. I was very happy as I want to be a technician. Now it feels as if my life has ended.”

According to the group, their last internship term ended on June 30.

“When we first got there we were told our internship would start on May 1 2018 and end on April 30 2019. We did this. It was then extended from May 1 2019 to July 31 2019.

“We were told about doing a second year of internship and again our internship was extended, this time from August 1 2019 to April 30 2020, and then again from May 1 to June 30 this year,” she said.

With their complaints falling on deaf ears, the disgruntled group approached the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) for assistance.

Duncan Village resident Vuyolwethu Mespile, 29, said she was the sole breadwinner, supporting five people including her seven-year-old child.

“My plans have failed. Worst of all is that this announcement was done with our parents present. I’ve been looking and applying for jobs but it’s very difficult in this time of Covid19,” Mespile said.

Sala Mvalo, 22, said he was dependent on his parents’ pension grants.

BCM spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya said permanent appointments were governed by the municipality’s recruitment and selection policy.

“The ICT group was initially appointed for a period of six months but due to the training and transfer of skills it was not completed in this time. Their period was extended on more than two occasions to allow them to gain the required skills and experience to be competitive in the market,” he said.

“Our training programmes do not guarantee anyone a permanent appointment. The matter of the ICT group is now at the CCMA and to ensure all parties are protected while being handled by the CCMA, we are unable comment until such processes have been concluded,” Ngwenya said.

In 2018, BCM was quoted as saying: “The graduates will be absorbed by the metro at the end of the month where they will be managing our ICT intelligence lab, surveillance cameras throughout the metro and other ICT work.”

I resigned from my previous job to grab this opportunity. I was very happy as I want to be a technician. Now it feels as if my life has ended