VIDEO: Tshwane tackles unemployment

The Tshwane metro has opened its public works programme employee registration window in the Pretoria CBD.

Speaking during his visit to registration centre at Sammy Marks Square in the CBD on Monday, mayor Stevens Mokgalapa said his administration was taking the fight against unemployment to the next level to “alleviate poverty in the city”.

He said residents who wished to be considered for the expanded public works programme opportunities could come register.

“This is one of the ways that the current administration shows its commitment to serving the needs of residents who are most affected by poverty and unemployment,” he said.

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Mayoral spokesperson Omogolo Taunyane said the current EPWP model afforded the residents an opportunity to use their time productively, working.

She said the registered residents could benefit from the “transparent and fair” recruitment process that was free from “nepotism and favouritism”.

Taunyane previously said during the first EPWP registration window in November 2017, more than 120 000 job-seekers had registered.

“The enormous interest shown by job-seekers highlights the urgency to continue finding solutions to the country’s unemployment crisis, especially for the youth.”

Taunyane said the previous database had “challenges of implementation” that included a limited number of participants for selection.

“The job-seekers were ward-based, which posed challenges because some were registered in regions,” she said adding that other problems were that the job-seekers were registered in wards where they were not resident, no longer reachable on their phone number or rejected the offer based on the type of work they would have to perform.

“This resulted in people close to the project not participating as the lottery might have selected people from the same ward who are located far from the project.”

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She said to address these challenges, improvements were made to the registration system.

The registration window would remain open at various sites across the metro’s 7 regions until 12 September, then move to customer care centres.

The city urged unemployed residents between the ages of 18 and 60 to register on its central job-seeker EPWP database.

“To register, bring along your valid identity document and proof of residence,” Taunyane said.

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