By Everson Luhanga
Destitute and desperate young people braved the scorching hot weather on Friday to queue for job opportunities at the Tembisa Plaza.
The young men and women sat on the pavement outside the mall waiting for their chance to leave their particulars with officials from the Gauteng Department of Economic Development.
They started queuing from 7am, with some covering their faces from the sun with A4 CV copies or umbrellas.
The province’s economic development department has partnered with the Radah Skills Academy and Uber Eats to give opportunities in e-commerce to young people who it says will be trained and eventually hired.
The youths who are taken onto the programme will receive business training from the Radah Skills Academy, have their learner and motorbike driver’s licenses paid for in full, and then be placed in jobs in the e-commerce industry.
This will eventually enable the trained youths to have their own scooter delivery businesses.
Gift Sebastian Langa, spokesperson for the Gauteng Department of Economic Development, said one of the programme’s main sponsors, Uber Eats, has invested R200-million to ensure the programme is a success.
Langa said the department is targeting 2,000 young people across the province to take part in this opportunity. “This number may change as there is interest from other delivery entities such as Takealot and Bolt,” said Langa.
He said young people will learn a range of skills, including how to run a successful delivery business and how to bring in more people to expand the business.
Thembisa is not the only area the department has visited with the programme. “We have tried to cover the whole of Gauteng so we have a presence in all five regions in the province,” Langa said.
A 19-year-old Lerato Cindi said she learnt about the programme through the department’s social media pages. “I am happy to be here and I am hoping that I will be considered for the opportunity.”
Lebo Khumalo, 20, said she was happy about the opportunity. “There are no jobs anymore. Anything that would keep me busy, I would appreciate it,” she said.
Meanwhile in KwaZulu-Natal, the province’s MEC for Environmental Affairs, Siboniso Duma, has announced that the department has employed 14,714 young people as part of the greening revolution.
The provincial environmental affairs department, guided by the agenda adopted by the Council on Climate Change, is rolling out initiatives aimed at protecting the environment.
The department said that the greening revolution is the launch of its unprecedented effort to ensure that KwaZulu-Natal becomes greener, cleaner, sustainable, and prosperous.
Pictured above: Dozens of youths from Tembisa queuing outside the Tembisa Plaza for a business training opportunity on Friday.
Image source: Everson Luhanga
