Skills initiative for City of uMhlathuze youth
WITH 46.3% of South Africa's youth (15-34 years old) unemployed, local industry is behind the City of uMhlathuze’s latest initiative to economically empower thousands of young people in the area.
The city’s Youth Economic Emancipation Programme (YEEP), which targets dropouts and unemployed graduates, was launched last week by Mayor Mduduzi Mhlongo at ZCBF in Richards Bay.
The launch was attended by industry representatives Transnet, Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT), Richards Bay Minerals (RBM), Foskor and Richards Bay Industrial Development Zone (RBIDZ), all of which vowed to fully support the programme to develop local youth.
YEEP is a portal which provides a range of opportunities for young people, including skills development, job placements, on-thejob training and bursaries.
Linked to the city's website, the portal lets youth register their profiles, outline their skills, access local opportunities and submit applications.
It also aims to have each applicant profiled and allocated a skills pathway with links to opportunities in the private sector.
‘It is true that our current systems are unkind to the youth,' said Mayor Mhlongo. ‘It is for this reason that this programme gives young people the chance of being re-skilled.
‘This requires realising that qualifications, hard earned as they were, will not assist them anymore. They must be open-minded to career changes, and choose other pathways like artisanship and other scarce skills.'
Industry support for YEEP
Speaking at the launch, RBIDZ chief operations officer Muzi Shange said the challenges YEEP will address are in line with the mandate of the economic development zone.
These include the unprecedented levels of unemployment, poor and irrelevant skills in relation to industry demands, poor co-ordination of interventions, a lack of formalised partnership, and unstructured opportunity pipeline management.
‘Our organisation will deploy resources for efforts aimed at sharpening the youth in this municipality and beyond,' said Shange.
Similar sentiments were shared by Richards Bay port manager, Thami Sithole, who is also the president of the Zululand Chamber of Commerce and Industry. RBM pledged its support by donating 10 laptops to pupils in the City of uMhlathuze’s Matric Assistance programme. 'A good, solid education is critical in shaping our future leaders. There is no doubt that our education system has been
severely impacted by Covid-19, especially in areas where resources are limited,' said Bheki Nowele, RBM GM: communications and community relations.
'We all have a responsibility to ensure we help our young people catch up on lost time, and RBM is proud to play a part in achieving this goal.'