DA will introduce internship programme in City of Tshwane to create jobs

20 July 2016

The City of Tshwane is facing an unemployment crisis with 1 in 3 residents of the Capital without a job. Among the youth the situation is even bleaker with 40% of young people in Tshwane unemployed.

Young people want the opportunity to contribute to the economy and are yearning to make a better life for themselves and their families. Yet today they face a constant struggle against a system that has left them without opportunities. The ANC has created a generation of young people who are not only unemployed, but increasingly unemployable.

Children are put through a school system that is grossly under-resourced and does not prepare them adequately to become active participants in the economy. Those who manage to qualify for tertiary education must then struggle to get financing. Opportunities are few and far between. 

But I am here to say that there is hope for a better future. A future in which opportunities are created for our young people under a DA government.

The DA has plans to make the hopes and dreams of our young people a reality. 

The DA would do the following to grow a generation of entrepreneurs in Tshwane that will allow young people to become future captains of industry:

1. Broadly empower businesses in the City by cutting red tape to create a regulatory business environment that promotes growth and innovation and facilitates job-creating investment;

2. Establish small business support offices in areas such as Hammanskraal, Mamelodi, Atteridgeville, Olievenhoutbosh, Soshanguve and Mabopani;  

3. Introduce Job Zones in Ekandustria, Babelegi, Garankuwa, offering discounts on development contributions and tariffs in return for creating new jobs;

4. Build Job Centres across the city that bring potential employers and job-seekers together; and

5. Establish City Improvement Districts which will breathe new life into the city centres of Pretoria and Centurion. This will rekindle the business and cultural life of these spaces and draw in young people where they will find work and make a life for themselves.

But more than just making sure that Tshwane is business friendly, as Mayor I will do everything in my power to create opportunities for young people. In particular:

1. I will aim to establish an internship program in the City to allow matriculants and graduates to gain workplace experience in government.

2. I will also look to increase the budget for programmes to assist young people to become employed. In the 2015 financial year, the DA-run City of Cape Town spent R71 million to assist unemployed matriculants or young people to gain employment, this was more than Johannesburg and Tshwane combined.

3. And lastly, to accommodate its young and vibrant population, we will bring Tshwane into the 21st century by implementing an innovative e-portal to enable residents to submit and track the progress of development applications, pay rates and tariffs, and complete license applications and renewals online.

We have a responsibility to empower young people to become active participants not only in our economy, but in our democracy as a whole.

Young people have a crucial role to play in building a stronger democracy. Together we can work to make the hopes of a generation a reality and move our Capital and the country forward again.

Issued by Motheo Mtimkulu, Media Manager, Tshwane Mayoral Campaign, 20 July 2016