The Executive Mayor has identified Youth development as one of the critical areas that needs intervention in order to alleviate high unemployment rate, poverty and socio economic ills. The Executive Mayor has since introduced “KGATELOPELE” Youth Development Programme.
The programme is targeting about 250 youth to be trained in skills development, business administration and management, entrepreneurship and sector specific technical skills. Graduated youth will also be considered and where possible be linked to job opportunities or further training. However only the 200 youth will be exposed to training as the other 50 youth have already started with the training.
The following are some excerpts from the speech of Executive Mayor Bongani Baloyi at the graduation ceremony of the first group of students:
Midvaal is different. Here we don’t spend sleepless nights thinking about how spending R1.2 million of ratepayers’ money in fast food outlets and defend the indefensible. We spend sleepless nights thinking about how best to serve all people of our Municipality, regardless of who they voted for. We pay particular attention to our young people.
We are pleased that in the 2016/17 financial year, we set aside R6.6 million to train the youth here in Midvaal, to help them secure business opportunities with our Municipality. Of this, R1 million was set aside equip them with skills that should enable them to run their own businesses.
A procurement budget for goods and services totalling R5.5 million was identified across all the departments of our Municipality to benefit graduates, particularly those who have completed their Kgatelopele training programme, and who have set up companies and cooperatives.
Areas where there are opportunities for our young people include: grass cutting, waste cleaning, road painting, account delivery, water leaks and road repairs.
Our ultimate aim is to train and provide business opportunities to job creators. We want to deal with the core of the problem of unemployment by creating employers. We hope that through this programme, our young people will be inspired to expand and discover their entrepreneurial flair.
Here in Midvaal, we have added ourselves onto the list of non-university institutions committed to empowering the youth with skills they wouldn’t have acquired in our country’s underperforming education system.
Our programme also assists those who didn’t even have the opportunity to attend university. As a Municipality that is in touch with the dreams of the youth, we can no longer leave the important issue of training exclusively to universities.
We have to empower our youth with relevant skills. If we keep investing in Kgatelopele, and if the private sector joins us and contribute more resources into this project, the poor within our Municipality will eventually join the ranks of the wealthy.
We should always bear mind that to solve poverty and inequality, you have to uplift the poor and the unemployed without dragging down those who are well off. But those who are well off must assist us in this process.
I have no doubt that in Midvaal we share the understanding that together we can build a better and formidable community through youth empowerment.