'You might have ambitions to eliminate unemployment, but when jobs are created and the skills are not there, unemployment will be permanent.'
Premier of Gauteng, Panyaza Lesufi. Picture: Gallo Images/Luba Lesolle
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi has unveiled his ambitious vision to transform the province into a hub of innovation and opportunity for young people, saying the next generation should not only inherit the economy but actively shape it.
Launching the Gauteng Human Resource Development Council (GHRDC) on Tuesday, Lesufi outlined a vision for the initiative, painting a picture of high-speed rail links, technology-driven classrooms and township-born talent leading South Africa’s economic growth.
GHRDC is a multi-stakeholder advisory body aimed at tackling youth unemployment, poverty and skills shortages by aligning education and workforce training with the province’s economic needs.
Skilled workforce needed to fight unemployment
Lesufi, delivering the keynote address, said job creation without a skilled workforce would not resolve South Africa’s unemployment crisis.
“If you can’t get the skills right, we’ll not get the country right. If you can’t get the skills right, we’ll not get the economy right.
“You might have ambitions to eliminate unemployment, but when jobs are created and the skills are not there, unemployment will be permanent.”
Lesufi’s vision for Gauteng’s future
The premier, who will also chair the council, said he envisions a future in which young people are equipped with the skills to drive innovation and lead Gauteng’s transformation through technology, infrastructure, and other future-focused industries.
“I dream about a hospital in Gauteng where we utilise artificial intelligence to execute systems, taking advantage of artificial intelligence, the precision is spot on and the queue of those that are waiting for surgeries is eliminated,” he said.
“I dream about the speed train that moves from here to Limpopo in 67 minutes, and that train is driven by a young lady from Mamelodi or Thembisa. I dream about the school where every learner has a tablet, the teacher has a laptop and a classroom has a smart board.
“I think about the satellite-based CCTV that can capture the essence of our province, so that every crime that is committed can be captured and every criminal can be faced.”
Launch of schools of specialisation
He also touched on the 34 schools of specialisation in the province, stating they are an investment that must not be undermined.
Gauteng’s schools of specialisation aim to bridge the gap between basic education and the modern economy by providing high-level, practical skills in fields like engineering, ICT and the arts. They align student training with regional industrial needs to combat youth unemployment.
“We have entered the stage where the name of a school, if it ends with a high school or Hoërskool or lower primary school you know, we’re in the past, but if a school says a school of specialisation in aviation, school of specialisation in maritime studies, school of specialisation in business development, schools of specialisation in engineering, you must know that’s the future and that school is nowhere else, it is in Gauteng.”
