While unemployment is a major concern in South Africa, Johannesburg Economic Development department has resumed youth Cooperative Development Programme aiming to turn them into job creators. The department MMC, Lawrence Khoza announced this recently as the country commemorate youth month.
The programme will canter youth in Region C, to cover parts of Roodepoort, Florida, Northgate, Constantia Kloof, Bram Fischerville and Cosmo City areas. Its focus will be on youth between ages of 18 and 35 years whose level of skills and workplace experiences disadvantages them when seeking employment.
MMC Khoza stated that the programme motive is to empowers youth-owned cooperatives with compliance regulations, in-depth training, market access. He said this will be done through Cooperative Development, and links them with procurement opportunities available within the City.
“There is a great of hope placed on the youth and it is for that reason, the City must invest in aspiring entrepreneurs, their talents and skills to participate in the economy. Joburg must be mindful in its approach to transform one of our greatest challenges into an asset,” Khoza said.
Khoza said its focus will be on youth between ages of 18 and 35 years whose level of skills and workplace experiences disadvantages them when seeking employment. The programme will identify 500 young people in each of the City’s seven regions.
These interventions are aimed at reversing the effect of the factors contributing to the failures of similar-sized businesses. And they include the lack of business planning, access to capital and markets, inadequate office infrastructure/facilities, skills, and institutional capacity.
