Non-profit enterprise Harambee registers 3.5 job-seekers on its platform
A youth employment accelerator based in Johannesburg has 3.5 million job seekers registered on its platform.
Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator is a not-for-profit social enterprise based in Braamfontein.
It hosted a media tour on June 15 for media to see first-hand what it takes to support 3.5 million job seekers in a country with a youth unemployment rate of 46.5%. Harambee welcomes youth aged 18 to 34 to register on their system.
With over a decade of experience, the social enterprise accelerates youth employment by partnering across society to break barriers and unlock jobs. They work with like-minded partners who are committed to results that can work at scale, including government, the private sector, civil society and millions of youth.
Chief communications officer at Harambee Zengeziwe Msimang said there are 936 partners on their system. “What we’re trying to do is help employers reduce barriers that they put for young people. We push for inclusive hiring. Whenever I think about the definition of what Harambee is, it is all in the name. We accelerate jobs by breaking down these barriers and we do all this by partnering at scale.” Thus far, Harambee has provided 937 460 opportunities for work seekers.
She added that the idea is to keep the youth engaged so that they are always visible to possible employers on the system. Harambee is an anchor partner in a breakthrough platform called SA Youth. The platform brings together many partners to create a single national network to allow young people to access a wide selection of jobs and skilling opportunities, and for opportunity holders to access young engaged work seekers, for free.
Waseem Carim, the CEO of the National Youth Development Agency in Woodmead, said their main aim is to make youth development part and parcel of what other line departments are delivering to the point where organisational and individual performance agreements include youth development as a clear area of focus.
Marketing administrator at Harambee Sandile Ngakane said they support businesses to adopt inclusive hiring methods. Ngakane also explained ‘pathway management’ whereby the priority is to impact the three million engaged youth who will actively seek work over the next five years by contributing to the creation of more jobs and income opportunities as well as a transformed work-seeking experience.
Harambee contact centre operations manager Windy Mooi said their 91 guides (call centre agents) receive just above 64 000 calls from young people every month. “We know how to connect through conversation with job seekers because we have also been there before. We guide young people on how to go about seeking employment and make referrals where necessary.”
Technology director at Harambee Kuban Nair said they spend a lot of time and effort vetting potential employers to avoid scams. He added that for job seekers, they make their site as self-help friendly as possible.
A young man employed as a software tester at Harambee through DigiLink, Tiyani Clyde Baloyi, said his journey with Harambee started six months ago. “When we started the programme, we started with the software skills, then moved on to technical skills, which were in software testing and software development. The training took three months; thereafter they introduced us to the client. From then they gave us working equipment. I am currently working for BMW.”
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