Lottery of a different kind to win a job in Tshwane

26 Jan 2022 in Where We Govern

About 9,000 jobseekers of the 160,000 registered in Tshwane will win a lottery of a different kind as they are picked through a random draw for six months employment.

The City of Tshwane has opted to use a lottery system which relies on artificial intelligence to place about 9,000 on a six-month presidential employment programme (PEP) which will be rolled out as part of the city’s expanded public works programme (EPWP).

Tshwane mayor Randall Williams said the city was committed to conduct a fair and transparent process in the employment to give all jobseekers a fair opportunity.

Williams said he hoped that this six-month employment opportunity for those selected in the random draw will make a huge difference in their lives.

Tshwane’s acting divisional head of EPWP, Kgomotso Liale, said the database of jobseekers was growing rapidly and now has about 160,000 jobseekers.

She said the city uses artificial intelligence to give all jobseekers a fair and equal opportunity of being selected.

Liale said the city will on Wednesday employ 4,000 people after 5,000 were already recruited using the random draw system.

She said the process will be audited to ensure that only those who were on the database are the ones selected for the job opportunities.

Acting head of the community development department, Thabo Mokebe, said those lucky enough to win the job lottery will get a salary of R2,300 a month for six months and will do general work in integrated waste management, greening and community safety, among others.

He said the programme will target areas including informal settlements, townships, industrial areas and open spaces including parks.

Mokebe said the city has pumped R23m into the programme as part of seed funding to get it up and running.

He said 5% of those to be recruited are people with disabilities.

The City of Tshwane has been allocated R146.2m by the National Treasury to create 9,000 work opportunities for a period of six months.