CREATING JOBS FOR OUR YOUTH

We must wonder if South Africans even bat an eyelid anymore when they hear about the rising youth unemployment gures. Itumeleng Mogaki takes a look at some local initiatives helping to create jobs and business opportunities for the youth

Amy Foundation teaches sewing and design skills.

The burden of unemployment is concentrated among the youth who account for 65.5 per cent of the total number of unemployed persons, according to Stats SA’s latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey. To some, these are just numbers; to others, a grave concern; and to those directly a ected, a painful reality.

We spoke to government youth development agencies and local community-based nongovernmental organisations about the local initiatives they have started to help create jobs for SA youth.

LGYDF

The Local Government Youth Development Forum (LGYDF) is a multistakeholder partnership that advocates for the total institutionalisation of youth development in the local government sector. Chairperson Thapelo Maleke shares information about several of the forum’s programmes.

“We are a partnership of youth development practitioners on a mission to empower young people to take charge in leading development, particularly in the municipal spaces and villages where they live,” says Maleke. “We target councillors and mayors under the age of 35, young professionals and entrepreneurs, disabled youth in municipalities and villages, youth development and young women organisations, and Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) because their major mandate is skills development, “ he explains.

The LGYDF has signed a collaboration agreement with the Energy and Water Sector Education Training Authority (EWSETA) as well as with other SETAs.

Within these partnerships, the LGYDF has ve focus areas: • Youth Engage is the rst programme started by LGYDF before the outbreak of COVID-19. It is the organisation’s flagship project that assists young people residing in rural and urban areas to connect and engage with opportunity providers, in other words, SETAs, the national student financial aid scheme, and government youth agencies as well as the private sector, regarding bursaries, learnerships, internships, employment, and entrepreneurship. • Seminars and webinars: These target young people to tell them about opportunities in the energy and water sectors. • Youth in Rural Development Outreach

Programme stems from the challenge and realisation of the rural to urban migration by young people. That leaves townships and villages with no youth capacity.

Government is implored to o er skills and work opportunities in rural and village areas so young people don’t all ock to urban centres. • Quality skills provision. Done in partnership with SETAs, this aims to assist women, children, and people with disabilities with training and accreditation to become facilitators and moderators.

This initiative creates a pipeline of those skills in local communities so people don’t have to travel to urban areas because there are no facilitators or moderators in their rural areas. • Career guidance expos is a programme designed for high school learners, exposing them to various careers ranging from agriculture, water, and energy to banking. Maleke says with regards to the fourth industrial revolution, NYDA works with the Softstart Business and Technology Incubator. “We wish to introduce more young people

Thapelo Maleke

to robotics and coding, which are critical for future skills development needs.”

To track progress, Maleke says they have a monitoring and evaluation tool that assists in tracing if what they are doing is creating an impact and ensuring all-round reach and the success of young people.

NYDA CEO Waseem Carrim says the NYDA works on four programmes for young people in South Africa. These are: • Economic development through youth entrepreneurship is aimed at supporting young people through a mix of training programmes, development finance, access to market opportunities and aftercare and mentorship. • Job programmes, including technical and soft skills training technical and soft skills training programmes: aimed at getting young people work-ready and helping them to transition into employment. • Revitalising the National

Youth Service, which aims to give young people meaningful and quality service opportunities, and quality service opportunities, allowing them to grow their skills and allowing them to grow their skills and employability and earn an income. employability and earn an income. • Co-ordinating the implementation of the Co-ordinating the implementation of the

Integrated Youth Development Strategy for more e ective countrywide youth development outcomes. Carrim says there’s a deliberate strategy in place to reach youth from the most marginalised areas. “For example, the NYDA expanded the number of o ces from 15 in 2017 to 44 in 2020 to be more physically accessible to young people.

“In addition, we have SAYouth.mobi, an inclusive and data-free platform for young people to build their pro le and access learning and earning opportunities closest to where they live.

“The NYDA youth entrepreneurship programmes provide two years of full aftercare to ensure the long-term sustainability of the youth-owned enterprises. The NYDA job programmes regularly make support follow-ups to ensure that the job placements are sustainable,” says Carrim.

BLACK WOLF YOUTH AGENCY

The Black Wolf Youth Agency aims to be part of an ecosystem of change and touch the lives of many aspiring young marketers through access to networks, learning programmes, and strategic partnerships.

According to founder and director Sven Wolf, since its formal inception in 2020, the agency has helped over 250 students at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) in Cape Town with its work-readiness programmes, allowing students to get credits to graduate.

“Black Wolf Youth Agency is the o cial strategic partner to CPUT, speci cally within the institution’s marketing and work-integrated learning department. We operate as an education solutions hub, providing training, mentorship, and placement to university students and graduates from across the country,” explains Wolf.

He says the agency partners with universities’ work-integrated learning departments to o er value-added support services, such as capacity and experience, to broker industry partnerships with institutions, and host events, such as career development sessions and industry talks. “The agency also provides access to networks through events and has trained and employed over 20 young individuals through and into Black Wolf’s businesses,” says Wolf.

Talking about post-training and mentorship support, Wolf says the agency has a speci c interest in marketing, which makes it easier for their ecosystem to stay connected through consistent communication and events.

“We have a careers portal and social hub where we plan ongoing marketing communications to ensure our community engagement is maintained.”

universities’ work-integrated learning departments to o er value-added support Sven host events, such as career Wolf development sessions and industry talks. “The agency also provides access to networks through events and has trained and employed over 20

AMY FOUNDATION

Amy Foundation is a nonpro t organisation that o ers programmes focusing on unemployed youth aged 18–35 who are not in education, employment or training.

Michelle Bagley, communications and fundraising manager at Amy Foundation, says they have a placement success rate of around 75 per cent, with over 1 000 students placed in employment and entrepreneurship since commencing their programmes.

The foundation’s Youth Skills Development Programme’s main disciplines are: • Sewing and design. The learners are encouraged to explore their creativity and produce quality products for resale.

In so doing, they can create their small businesses and become producers for

Amy’s shop. These skills are a springboard to pursuing employment opportunities in creative environments. • Hospitality. In Amy’s teaching kitchen and bistro, the chefs introduce the learners to the basic kitchen, culinary, coffee, front of house and general hospitality skills. They try to link the learners with entry-level hospitality or retail employment opportunities or start their own small home or street food ventures. • Beauty. Under the supervision of the beauty team, the learners are empowered with su cient knowledge and skills to prepare them for entry-level job opportunities or starting their businesses in the beauty industry. • Technical or repair person skills. The learners are taught basic plumbing, tiling, cabinetmaking skills, and so forth. This enables them to start their own small repair business or be linked up with other retail employment. • Soft skills and retail-readiness. Learners attend soft skills workshops, for example, interview skills and workplace etiquette. Theoretical workshops contain content designed to groom and develop learners for the world of work and entrepreneurship. The six-day retail-readiness programme is meant to fast-track matriculants suited to the retail industry into entry-level positions with the foundation’s retail development partners. Bagley says learners displaying an interest in business are o ered business training, coaching and incubation. The foundation tries to source mentors and partners with other business development organisations for these learners.

Transport plays an important part in the success of the programme, she says. “Getting the participants to and from our centre for training, and subsidising their transport during internships and until they receive their rst paycheck, is vital.

“Our programme is also about ongoing mentorship, nurturing and sustaining the relationships with the learners, not just about placing them into entry-level jobs,” Bagley concludes. ▪

SBS Tanks o ers over 500 sizes of water and liquid storage tanks ideally suited to the municipal sector.

NEW 4.4 MILLION LITRE WATER STORAGE TANK TO SERVE RURAL COMMUNITIES

Proudly South African company SBS Tanks has launched a new series of water tanks, including a 4.4 million litre storage reservoir

SBS® Tanks has been a leader in the water security space for almost 25 years delivering solutions that meet the speci c needs of rural infrastructure development and the commercial space. The company has recently launched a series of new tank sizes that includes a 4.4 million litre water storage reservoir, ideal for water delivery to rural communities.

GETTING WATER TO THE PEOPLE

“The SBS Group has an established record of delivering product and service excellence in the water space. We have continuously embraced technology and worked to adapt our solutions to deliver according to public demand and what municipalities and engineers require,” says Mava Gwagwa, director: New Business Development, SBS® Solutions SA, a level 2 B-BBEE company. “We are proud to announce that we now o er tanks that can store over four million litres and, due to the modular design of our solutions, can be built anywhere, even in the most remote and rural locations.”

Demand for a 4 million litre tank led to the addition of 32 new tank sizes to SBS Tanks’ range of over 500 sizes.

“We still won’t need heavy machinery onsite when building these mammoth tanks, and the delivery will remain more cost-e ective and time-e cient than building a traditional concrete dam or reservoir,” says Gwagwa. “We know that time is of the essence, and we are ready to help municipalities deliver on the promise to get water to the people, o ering proven quality solutions.”

BUILDING FOR BETTER

SBS tanks have a 65-year expected lifespan, with liners carrying a 10-year no-leak warranty, providing peace of mind for clients and municipalities. Harsh environmental conditions are no challenge for the durable nature of SBS tanks, which have high wind ratings and can withstand extreme weather conditions. Panels and ttings can be transported to the site on o -road vehicles or even carried where necessary. As a company, SBS is also ISO 9001- and ISO 45001-compliant and SANS 10160-accredited.

From donating water storage tanks, developing modular products and elevated solutions, improving the speed of installation and commissioning of reservoirs to providing e ective liner solutions for existing ageing infrastructure, SBS has worked in partnership with consulting engineers, infrastructure development teams and agencies, national government, and regional municipalities, to deliver e ective, durable, and low-maintenance water storage solutions across South Africa.

“With a legacy of building for better, SBS is well-positioned to work with consultants, engineers, government and municipal leaders to ensure that the mandate of access to water for all is achieved quickly,” says Gwagwa. “SBS water storage tanks have been installed across South Africa, into Africa and across the world, and we can con dently say that we make a di erence – fast.” ▪

SBS Tanks o ers a range of elevated tanks and ground level tanks that are able to provide the required water pressure.

➔ Scan this QR code to go directly to the SBS Tanks website.

For more information:

Mava Gwagwa 086 048 2657 | +27 83 639 2702 info@sbstanks.co.za www.sbstanks.com