Peace corps launched
The City of Ekurhuleni launched its Peace Corps Volunteer programme on Friday, August 23, at Daveyton's Sinaba Stadium.
The programme will see 1 010 young residents being recruited and trained by the end of June, next year.
At the launch, the city also introduced its 400-strong Fire Brigade Reserve Force, members of which were recruited earlier this year to boost emergency services in Ekurhuleni.
The initiatives are aimed at empowering the youth of the city with skills that will equip them, as they will also be trained to better their chances of employment in the long run.
MMC Mthuthuzeli Siboza delivered a keynote speech on behalf of the mayor, Mondli Gungubele.
During Gungubele’s State of the City Address in March, he announced the launch of the Peace Corps project.
“Our goal with the Peace Corps project was to make the City of Ekurhuleni a safer place, a place where children once again can play in the streets without the fear of being exposed to Nyaope and other influences corrupting the moral fibre of our society,” read the address.
Siboza read that the EMPD Peace Corps Programme not only serves as a community defence mechanism, but also aids Ekurhuleni in making a difference in the alarming unemployment rate.
“It’s not only actively targeting the crime on our streets, but alleviating the poverty within the pulse of our city, making our streets once again a prosperous ground for endless possibilities,” he said.
The first 100 Peace Corps volunteers graduated in April and have since been deployed in their assigned wards.
The Peace Corps Programme serves as a crucial tool in skilling of drafted volunteers who will obtain experience in law enforcement areas.
“With the recruitment being ward-based, Peace Corps Volunteers and the Emergency Services Reserve Force, will serve as the eyes and the ears of law enforcers, ensuring safer wards, aiding police to act swiftly in curbing crimes and other social ills within our community,” said Siboza.
Siboza added that the fact that 33 out of the 100 Peace Corps volunteers who graduated successfully from the EMPD training academy in April are female, shows the metro is keeping in line with its mission on gender equality, especially with August being Women’s Month.
They will learn the human skills required in the process of coming into contact with fellow community members and making an active difference within the communities they reach.
