Youth Dialogue on Skills Development Hosted in Duduza
Community members from Duduza in Ekurhuleni gathered at Duduza Multi-Purpose Hall on Friday, July 26, for a Youth Dialogue hosted by the Duduza Labour Desk, with the main speaker being the Deputy Minister of Employment and Labour, Phumzile Mgcina. The event focused on shaping the future of work and skills development in the township, which like all others countrywide, is plagued by youth unemployment.
In her speech to the residents in attendance, Deputy Minister Mgcina said the government’s door is open to establishing partnerships with local organisations to deal with the debilitating scourge of unemployment.
“We are invited here today to assist young people in disseminating more information about learning programs and job opportunities available in the department. There is a budget of R23.8 billion allocated to employ and educate 7,400 people over three years in various sectors, including Agriculture, Tourism, Wholesale, Transport, Human Resources, Information & Technology, and many more. As a department, it is our duty to attend to and respond to the challenges of the youth,” said Mgcina.
Gift Proper Mohwaduba, Chairperson for Duduza Labour Desk, highlighted community challenges: “The rate of unemployment is very high in our township. We saw a need to initiate the organization to assist young people so that they can get jobs and other opportunities.”
It emerged during the dialogue that the City of Ekurhuleni has 36,6 per cent youth unemployment rate.
Former Speaker for Gauteng Legislature, Ntombi Megkwe, encouraged the youth: “I want to encourage young people to never give up in life and to grab every opportunity available. Another problem we must continue to fight is the scourge of drugs and alcohol in our communities.”
Mgcina emphasized collaboration: “The challenge is how to use platforms like these to communicate government work. When there are opportunities, we must assist. We want to use the Unemployment Insurance Fund’s R23-billion investment in the Labour Activation Programme (LAP) to open up training and employment opportunities.”
UIF Commissioner Teboho Maruping noted, “The LAP programme, currently being rolled out nationally, aims to train 200,000 people in the Gauteng Province alone. When we invite and accept people into a programme, we appeal to participants to walk with us on the journey to the end.”
Stakeholders at the dialogue committed to placing youths in at least 200 job opportunities. Present were Luthendo Consulting, Nedbank, NYDA, SANCA, Standard Bank, and Walter Sisulu University amongst others.
South Africa’s youth unemployment rate stands at 46.3%, posing significant challenges to economic growth and social stability.
The UIF’s LAP programme intends to avail training and employment opportunities in sectors such as – retail, wholesalers, agriculture, construction, security services, landscaping, transport and others. Click here to read more about it.