The Ekurhuleni executive mayor, Mondli Gungubele, addressed delegates attending the city’s Job Summit and Career Expo at the Alberton Civic Centre recently.
“The mayor has made a bold commitment that the city of Ekurhuleni will lead the charge to ensure that young people of Ekurhuleni benefit from the freedom of the country their counterparts fought for,” said Sam Modiba, metro spokesperson.
“We stand here to commit ourselves that this hard-earned freedom, for which some of our forebears paid the ultimate price, benefits all who live in this country, especially our young people and the most vulnerable in society,” said Gungubele.
Ekurhuleni’s job summit comes in the wake of statistics that the city’s broader unemployment figure is 39.5 per cent.
“This implies that over 1 185 000 people in the region have no known income source,” explained Modiba.
“Of these people, 61 per cent are young people of 34 years old and below.
“Moreover, 42 per cent of the population does not have a matric.
“Only three per cent of the population has a qualification equivalent to a university degree.”
“This is a major source of worry for us, because what it implies is that nearly four out of every 10 young people here are unemployed,” said Gungubele.
“Statistics also show that two out of four unemployed young people within Ekurhuleni head households having to fend for their younger siblings.
“It is against this background that a significant portion of our future plans revolve around creating jobs for young people.”
The mayor also said that it is a challenge the city has dutifully accepted in the interests of securing a better future for the young people of the metro.
“The City of Ekurhuleni has already committed to creating 180 000 jobs over five years,” added Modiba.
“To date, over 500 young people are already placed within the municipality on the city’s Graduation Placement and Experiential Programme, to gain work exposure over a period of 12 months.
“According to the mayor, the main aim of the Job Summit and Career Expo is to ensure the integration of skills development to placement opportunities, especially for the youth of the city – thus building and sustaining a better and prosperous future for tomorrow.
“We are urgently calling upon commerce and industry to enter into strategic partnerships with Ekurhuleni, to optimise opportunities that exist in this enterprising city of ours.
“It’s only with these partnerships that the skills development and job creation for our youth can be realised.
“Meanwhile, over R10-million has been committed by the city and various businesses in Ekurhuleni towards bursaries for post-secondary education and on-the-job training, in line with the municipality’s Window of Opportunity initiative.”
“The summit is an admission that government is aware of the challenges facing our people and is committed to proactively intervening to address those challenges,” said Gungubele.
For more information, contact mayoral spokesperson Zweli Dlamini on 082 573 6464.
