CITY OF CAPE TOWN
SPEECH BY THE EXECUTIVE MAYOR OF CAPE TOWN, ALDERMAN PATRICIA DE LILLE, ON THE OCCASION OF THE LAUNCH OF THE MAYORAL APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAMME ON December 12 2011
Ladies and gentlemen,
Good day, goeiedag, molweni.
The City of Cape Town is committed to creating opportunities. We are also committed to being leaders in service delivery.
The Apprentice programme allows us to combine these two goals and serve the individual while at the same time serving the city.
We are all aware that there are service delivery and infrastructure backlogs in the city. This is not just a Cape Town problem; it is a South African problem. Though this administration, and our predecessor, has taken steps to address infrastructure shortfalls, problems still remain.
We can allocate only so many resources to a problem before we have to expand our diagnosis and assess what other barriers preventing delivery remain. In the South African context, it amounts to a severe shortage of skills. Many people do not realise just what it takes to run a city. It requires an overall policy objective, to be sure.
But it then requires skilled technicians and engineers to carry out those policies and translate them into services that actually work for people. This skills shortage has hit local government particularly hard.
Many of the people who have the knowledge to keep the water flowing or the lights on are retiring. Until now, there was no real critical mass of new people with the requisite expertise to replace them. We have arrested this decline in Cape Town.
We have invested time and resources into an apprentice programme, with other educational partners that has its primary home in the electricity department. This has allowed for an increase of opportunities in the City.
In especially harsh economic times, the City has been fulfilling its mandate as a leader of economic and social development. The apprentice programme provides direct job opportunities for people in the City.
It also provides successful graduates with skills that are highly desirable in the market place, should they choose to pursue other avenues of employment. Today we acknowledge you, the 110 people who have successfully completed the apprentice programme. You know become fully skilled artisans with jobs in the City.
You will help us continue with our mission to build a better city and continue to be leaders in service delivery. I urge you all to use the opportunity provided to you to generate opportunities for others.
To the 90 apprentices starting with us, I urge you to look to your colleagues who become artisans today. After you have completed your training, you will join their ranks and become qualified artisans in your own right.
The City of Cape Town is leading in creating opportunities for apprentices, fulfilling an electoral pledge this administration made to increase the skills-set in the city and increase opportunities for individuals. To the artisans, I say congratulations and to the new apprentices, I say good luck and to both I say welcome to our extended family.
Issued by Communication Department, City of Cape Town, December 12 2011
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