A Mamelodi organisation known for its community projects has helped 1 300 unemployed young people from Gauteng, Mpumalanga and North West to find jobs.

This follows the appointment of Thandanani Drop Inn Centre by the National Youth Development Agency to run a National Youth Service (NYS) programme, a key part of the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention.

Kate Kekana, project support officer at the centre, said it was their task to help identify unemployed young people to take part in learner support, the tutor sector, community works, greening, and revitalisation.

Core focus areas include community service, civic participation, work experience, skills development, and building pathways to sustainable livelihoods and economic participation.

Kekana said they also partnered with the University of Pretoria (UP) to help those who want to further their studies.

The programme also donated school uniforms to the learner support programme for children who need school uniforms in all three provinces.

Kekana said the programme implemented 51 sites in all three provinces at local NPOs, old-age homes, clinics, schools, and orphanages.

“We have placed 25 youth members in each site,” said Kekana.

The programme accommodates everyone from Grade 9 to those with tertiary qualifications.

Skills training and exit plans

She said participants with grades 9 to 11 were placed in community works, such as greening, food gardening, taking care of the environment, and cleaning.

Matriculants were placed in administrative posts, learner support, and teacher assistance, working four hours a day from Monday to Thursday, and receive stipends for the duration of the programme.

Kekana said part of the programme provides transitional opportunities, partnering with stakeholders such as UP, the Congress of South African Trade Unions, and Tateni Community Care Centre, which offered training and issued certificates.

“The plan is to get them an exit plan while they are on the six months programme by getting them opportunities to be employable after the programme.”

Beneficiary Erica Skhosana (20) said the programme helped him discover his strengths, learn administrative skills, work with people, and become adaptable.

Skhosana said he was exposed to different programmes within the organisation.

“The stipend helped me to buy essentials and also data to apply for permanent opportunities,” said Skhosana.

Permanent appointment in social work

Kekana added that Mbali Tefu, who studied social work, was also recruited under the NYS programme.

She said they were able to link Tefu to a permanent job as a social worker with Tshimologo Drop Inn Centre after she was shortlisted, passed her interview, and was appointed.

All participants receive six months’ stipends from the NYS programme, which started in June, while a second group started in September.

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