Unemployment levels continue to flood our thoughts and energy, as we believe that sustainable livelihood programs will bring pride and joy and somehow restore and restore some measure of dignity.
With Gauteng being the most populous province in SA, this number would be quite large due to a number of reasons including young people migrating from their home provinces looking for better opportunities in the province which is believed to offer better economic opportunities.
According to the quarterly Labor Force Survey, the youth unemployment rate when measuring job seekers between 15 and 24 years old rose to 62.1% in the first quarter of 2023, the highest in a single year, from 61% in the previous three years. month period. Gauteng represents the most.
The Gauteng government has launched a program called Tshepo 1 Million to relieve pressure on young people. Different departments need to contribute through different programs to ensure this is achieved.
As part of the contribution to the programme, the Gauteng Department of Social Development is implementing the Welfare to Work Program (W2WP).
This program includes recruitment, selection, assessment, placement, on-the-job development, case management, training, developmental education, support services, and job retention services. It prepares participants for the labor market and provides them with practical experience to obtain and retain jobs.
Initially, W2WP was developed to support young women who received child support and foster care grants, but has expanded to help foster care recipients, victims of gender-based violence, recovering substance abuse patients, women coming out of shelters, and all other women. Beneficiaries to move from luxury to a self-sufficient world.
The program incubates individuals for a period of no more than three years, and based on their evaluation and educational profile, the individuals are associated with a program aimed at ensuring that they are able to exit the social security system. Beneficiaries are selected on the basis of socio-economic factors such as:
- Age group (between 18 and 25 years old)
- Social status factor (from poor backgrounds – based on homeostatic profiling of GDSD)
- Matric passed
- Participants who are willing and willing to act
- Participants willing, and willing, to research and obtain a post-secondary qualification/course
Through the program, the department offers skills-accredited training through partnerships with accredited partners in hospitality, fashion design, real estate, photography, beauty therapy, hairdressing, etc.
This is done through partnership with non-profit organizations that train and deliver unit standards and/or qualifications that fall within the primary focus of the Education and Training Quality Assurance Body of the relevant sector education and training body or professional body.
There are also job postings where participants are connected to job opportunities within a network of potential employers.
June 28 saw 536 young people graduate from this programme. These young men received accredited training in hair, beauty and fashion design in the Class of 2022/23.
One of the beneficiaries, 30-year-old Thandu Vimirs who graduated in Fashion Design through the Sun Goddess Foundation, said he is happy to break the cycle of poverty at home as he is now the owner of a high fashion brand.
“I want to empower the desperate people in my community. I was once a community member without aspirations, but I thank the Sun Goddess Foundation and the Gauteng Department of Social Development for giving us a chance to live a meaningful life.”
Although these interventions seem meager given the scale of youth employment, the government continues to change lives step by step. The key to this change is to be consistent and intentional in improving lives for the better through sustainable livelihoods and development programmes.
• Kheswa works with the Gauteng Department of Social Development