By Selloane Ntshonyane
- More than 400 Soweto residents marched to Johannesburg MMC Loyiso Masuku’s office in Braamfontein to demand jobs on 29 May.
- They say over 5,000 Expanded Public Works jobs are going to outsiders and foreign nationals while locals are overlooked.
Over 400 unemployed residents from Soweto marched to the office of Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) Loyiso Masuku in Braamfontein on Thursday, 29 May, in a desperate push for jobs.
They carried CVs and handed over a memorandum of demands, hoping to be considered for work.
Led by Pimville community leader Thabang Moloi, the group walked from Newtown to Braamfontein. Marchers came from areas including Dobsonville, Diepkloof, Alexandra and Orlando.
They claim that more than 5,000 posts under the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) are going to people from other provinces and undocumented foreign nationals, leaving locals jobless.
Moloi said they have marched to the MMC’s office many times before with no response.
“If we don’t get the results, we will come back and sleep here until some of us are employed,” said Moloi.
Dobsonville resident Mathabo Mahlangu, 29, said her household has four people but only one has a job. She has applied several times with the City of Johannesburg and for EPWP jobs but has not been contacted.
“I have a daughter and I can’t afford most of her things. I have to cut some stuff in my budget,” she said.
Moloi added that they will take part in the hiring committee on Thursday, 5 June, and will return the next day with feedback on how many locals have been selected.
Pictured above: Hundreds of Soweto residents marched to the municipal offices to demand jobs on Thursday.
Image source: Selloane Ntshonyane
