By Buziwe Nocuze
- Young people in Ward 80 will work in sewing, farming and community patrols to help reduce crime and unemployment.
- Jobs will rotate every six months to give more unemployed youth a fair chance to support their families.
Youth Day turned into a celebration with real meaning for over 300 young people in Ward 80, Philippi, Cape Town — they got jobs.
For years, crime and unemployment have plagued the area. Now, the hope is that this work will change lives.
The new workers will take on various roles such as sewing, farming, and patrolling the streets.
Ward councillor Lindikhaya Payiya said they are doing all they can to clean up the streets and give young people a future.
“Our area is known for crime because young people are not working. We hope the 300 hired now will make a change and be a good example to those involved in bad things,” he said.
He added that they could not hire everyone this time, but others will get their turn.
“To make everyone happy, each group will work for six months. Then the next group will take over. That way, more families will get a chance to put food on the table.”
Lisakhanya Patonisi, chairperson of SANCO, believes this move will help stop the rising crime.
“Most people committing crimes are young. They wouldn’t do it if they had jobs,” said Patonisi.
To make the process fair, they let the youth pick numbers. The ward has seven branches, and 43 people were hired from each.
“Everyone picked a number from one to 60. If you picked between one and 43, you got the job. This way, there’s no room to complain,” said Patonisi.
Young people like Bahle Tomose are grateful.
“Getting a job during Youth Month gave us hope. I wasn’t expecting it. To those who missed out, your time will come,” he said.
Anelisa Gwinta, another successful applicant, was relieved.
“Being jobless is stressful. I wake up every day to hand out my CV. This means I can now feed my family,” she said.
Pictured above: More than 300 young people from Philippi will celebrate the day knowing it has brought change.
Image credit: Supplied
