Fighting unemployment in Fourways through the Employment Resource Centre

According to Stats SA, a whopping 27.7 per cent of South Africans were unemployed during the first quarter of 2017 – the highest unemployment rate since 2003. But one Fourways resident is trying to change that locally, at least.

Cynthia Lewis launched the Employment Resource Centre in January with the aim of helping unemployed people access the resources to find work.

“In order to apply for a job, people need access to the Internet; they need to be able to print out their CVs and they need to be able to travel to interviews either in a car, or afford to pay taxi fares. In short, they need money. A lot of unemployed people just don’t have access to these things and it makes finding a job that much harder.”

Lewis advises job seekers on CV writing, helps prepare them for what to expect in a job interview, provides transport where she can and supports and encourages local businesses.

The centre is based at two churches in the Fourways area: The Bryanston Bible Church and Saint Mungo’s United Church, also in Bryanston.

“A lot of the people who I try and help are part of the Setlamo Employment Bureau, which is part of Saint Mungo’s. People looking for jobs will show up to the bureau on Tuesday morning from 9am until 11am in the hope that employers will find them there. There is space on the premises to conduct interviews and all potential employees will have either a South African ID or the documents necessary to work here.” said Lewis. I’ve helped about 35 people since the centre started, but it’s just too much work for one person to do.”

Lewis hopes that Fourways, as a community, will start to provide more jobs. She encourages anyone looking for workers to visit Setlamo for potential employees and would love recruiters to help her find job opportunities to pass on to those in need.

Although fighting unemployment is a difficult job, Lewis has had some success. Local entrepreneur, Paul Selikane decided to start his Selisha landscaping business with his friend Khumbu Moyo after Selikane was trained at the the Riversands Incubation Hub. Lewis introduced them to Jonothan Madisha, who has similar aspirations and experience in horticulture.

After Lewis approached Future City Fourways, Selisha was hired to landscape the road islands on William Nicol Drive, just outside the Indaba Hotel. On 14 June, the three men began work on the overgrown grass as traffic rushed by.

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“I started this company once I had received training in agriculture and business at Riversands. I started it because I want to be able to provide for myself and my loved ones,” Selikane said.

If you would like to support the work that the Employment Resource Centre, you can contact them on Facebook: @EmpResCtr or call Cynthia Lewis 082 444 8381.