MMC Knott addresses businesses at Sojo networking breakfast
MMC for Economic Development Councillor Leah Knott spoke to over 50 businesses at the Sojo Business Network Breakfast on how they can support the city’s five per cent growth strategy.
Sojo Business and Tourism hosted its first business network breakfast for the year at Thaba Eco Hotel on April 13 with the guest speaker being MMC for Economic Development Councillor Leah Knott.
Richard Bennet (chair of Sojo) opened the meeting and informed guests of the work Sojo is already doing in the South. Knott spoke to over 50 businesses that were present about how businesses can support the city’s five per cent growth strategy and she also shared ideas on how businesses can support the city’s goals.
She explained how a city needs to co-ordinate its efforts to facilitate a number of outcomes like:
• Placemaking. This means creating liveable areas that are safe, clean and aesthetically pleasing.
• Facilitating business nodes that are safe, clean and well maintained.
• Strategic infrastructure investment that anticipates population growth and increases in demand.
• Minimising bureaucracy and reducing barriers to entry for business.
• The rule of law.
• Protecting property rights.
“Another target of the current administration is to try and bring down unemployment by 20 per cent by 2021 with a focus on youth unemployment as this is most acute among the young. One way businesses can help us is by supporting formalised improvement districts, if you fall under one,” said Knott.
This provides additional security patrols, cleaning services and a direct line of communication with the city departments. She spoke of how youth unemployment is a tough nut to crack and is one of the biggest hurdles that the youth face.
“They are discriminated against because they have no prior work experience but no one will give them the chance to earn experience. The longer they are unemployed the harder it becomes to eventually land work and the young people just need a chance,” said Knott.
She explained that it could be an internship or an opportunity to gain exposure to a work environment and earn a reference.
“We have budgeted R10-million for the training of youth artisan fields. Once they complete a 12-week course in theoretical work, they will need practical work experience for a year to two,” she said.
Knott advised that this project will be implemented over the next few months and encourages the support from businesses.
“Lastly, we will soon be launching a job seekers portal. This is a database of Joburg jobseekers broken down by area, industry and skills to create a network of job applicants and businesses that need labour. It will be managed from our new opportunity centres where people will be entered into the database or they can do it online. Businesses looking for labour can access this and contact the people for interviews or opportunities,” explained Knott.
A project you may be familiar with is A Re Sebetseng, which is the mayor’s initiative to try and foster a culture of caring for your surroundings. Knott explained that it’s this focus that the mayor wants to rekindle in the city. A Re Sebetseng is driven at schools and with businesses and is a success, but it must not be a short-term project. Every third Saturday of the month, schools and businesses are called upon to participate in cleanups around the city or in their area.
“I understand the frustration among Joburgers over the years from poor service delivery and lack of drive from city management. The corruption has certainly not helped either. We are making progress, perhaps not as fast as many residents would like, but it’s happening,” concluded Knott.
Nicky Vakaloudis (CEO of Sojo) thanked the MMC and guests for attending and the next events will be advertised accordingly.
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