After a grueling selection process, four previously unemployed graduates are now staff members in the Office of the Executive Mayor.
Anelisa Mabece, Lutho Dzedze, Bajabulile Makhaye, and Vuyo Ngqondela, all Bay residents, have been selected for a 6 month internship programme recently launched in the Mayor’s Office.
With a range of qualifications from a Bachelor of Arts to a post-graduate LLB, and from a National Diploma in Municipal Management to an Honours in Corporate Communication, these four exceptional young South Africans have already achieved so much.
Sadly, too many graduates are still unemployed, some of whom eventually give up hope and stop looking for work altogether.
Just yesterday I met a young woman volunteering as a coach controller aboard the Apple Express. She is a post graduate botanist, confident, competent and very intelligent yet unable to find permanent work in her field of study. This illustrates the enormous challenge of job scarcity; the Metro is stepping up to assist.
The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality is planning to launch an initiative which seeks to expose unemployed graduates to work opportunities that may have previously slipped by. The Department of Labour has expressed an interest in supporting the planning and implementation of this initiative.
The involvement of various private and public sector entities, facilitated by the Mayor’s Office, will see local potential employers interfacing with the City’s unemployed graduates on a regular basis.
I challenge, and will continue to challenge, every established business or firm in Nelson Mandela Bay to make provision for one or two 6-month intern positions where only applicants who live in the Bay are eligible.
Gaining work experience through internships often unlocks opportunities for young graduates.
This week I will be visiting a number of institutions of higher learning to wish the students well for this next academic year.
In the weeks to follow we will be calling all unemployed graduates to a set of workshops or public meetings to begin capturing and discussing the spread of qualifications and skill.
Job creation is critical. Millions and millions of South Africans are relying on government to grow the economy, creating jobs. While tough national economic conditions prevail, this coalition government is determined to reduce unemployment.
One City One Future.