By Anita Dangazele
Hundreds of young people queued at one Sasol petrol station in Gqeberha on Thursday to submit their CVs for a handful of available jobs.
When the manager at the Sasol garage on Commercial Road put up a Facebook advertisement to fill a few vacancies at the station, she did not expect the large number of applicants who turned up.
Hundreds of young people from around Nelson Mandela Bay flocked to the garage to submit their applications, but sadly, the fuel station was looking to fill just eight vacancies.
“I did not expect that the turnout would be so high. I understand that unemployment is a big problem in our country, but for me that was shocking, “ says manager Shanaaz Naidoo.
Naidoo says this made her understand the reality of unemployment in the country.
The jobs required no experience, as the station plans to train successful candidates.
“I think the “no experience” requirement in the [advertisement] is what attracted the large number of applicants. It’s unfortunate that we weren’t able to hire more,” adds Naidoo.
Nelson Mandela Bay, in the Eastern Cape, has a staggering unemployment rate of 35.7 %, according to the latest data from Statistics South Africa.
This means at least 640,000 people in the metro are living on less than R1,077 a month. And it is the youth, those aged between 15 and 24, who are bearing the brunt.
Pictured above: Young people lining up for the job
Image source: Supplied
