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Mayor appoints youth to advocate for young people

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Mayor appoints youth to advocate for young people

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The Ekurhuleni executive mayor Mzwandile Masina has established a youth directorate to deal with youth issues especially difficulties faced by young people, such as lack of financial aid, youth development and economic opportunities. The division is headed by Advocate Modise Koetle.

The city hosted various youth programmes since the beginning of June. Koetle told the Mail & Guardian. “This is why the city has taken a keen interest in youth issues. We are passionate about youth leadership and development.”
The city is passionate about advancing youth development and social justice for all and is committed to advancing youth economic development in the City of Ekurhuleni through the implementation of youth policies, and advocating for youth empowerment initiatives.

As divisional head in the office of the mayor, Koetle is responsible for co-ordinating and planning work around the four pillars: mainstreaming youth development, social transformation, skills development and economic transformation.

The youth directorate is responsible for strategically leading, co-ordinating, monitoring, evaluating and reporting on the mainstreaming of youth development in policies, programmes and plans of City of Ekurhuleni and other sectors of society by co-coordinating and overseeing the implementation of integrated and mainstreamed youth development programmes in the City.

Reporting directly to the executive mayor, the youth directorate also motivates for the provision of resources, budget and strategic and technical support in the implementation of the mainstreamed youth development programmes.
The youth directorate also manages relevant partnerships at a local, provincial and national level with government structures, NGOs, community-based organisation and other role players whose service is youth focused.

“In Ekurhuleni, most perpetrators of crime are youth, and most victims are also youth. The city is working on various interventions through arts and culture and various social cohesion programmes to respond to these social ills,” said Masina.

The objective of social transformation responds to the social needs of youth and the importance of them participating fully in society and communities in which they live. This shall form part of building social cohesion, national unity and harmony. Interventions in terms of this objective will focus on building the social capital and youth networks; strengthening their identity, building their self-esteem, developing a sense of belonging and nurturing a shared value system. Statistics from the City of Ekurhuleni Youth Report, notes that 66% of respondents did not take part in either community projects or responsibility campaigns, 70% did not participate in environmental awareness campaigns and cleaning. Only 19% participated in Integrated Development Plan (IDP) processes. Social cohesion activities include community service, civic participation, volunteering, increased participation in civil society processes such as the development of Ekurhuleni’s IDP, involvement in ward committees and re-integration of youth into communities.

The municipal administration will implement the National Drug Master Plan this month to intervene in the scourge of substance abuse in Ekurhuleni. Masina said every township in Ekurhuleni will also soon have an anti-substance abuse centre where young addicts can easily check themselves in and out without encountering any problems.
During the Youth Summit held at the Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg the City plans to focus on economic transformation of the region through business opportunities for the youth.

The summit, will witness the signing of the Youth Accord social impact between the City of Ekurhuleni and specific corporate businesses where youth development initiatives will be mainstreamed. The Youth Accord will establish a project management unit to facilitate the agreements and financial aspects contained therein.

The City of Ekurhuleni has set aside R1-billion for youth empowerment through the Mintirho ya Vulavula Community Empowerment Programme, which will assist local SMMEs owned by women, young people and people with disabilities.

In addition, the city has launched the EPWP Vukuphile Phase 3 Learner Contractor Programme, which incorporates contractors, and we help skill them to deal with triple challenges of poverty, inequality and unemployment at grassroots level. This approach enabled the City to leverage its budget spent to stimulate the transfer of skills and empower local communities in a manner that enhances their productive capabilities and to eventually become fully-fledged construction companies.

The City is also planning to train youth to supply services to the municipality and encourage business networking. Masina further said the aim is to empower young people to make use of economic avenues provided by the municipality in an effort to meet their entrepreneurial goals.

Later this month, the City of Ekurhuleni will launch the Youth Entrepreneurship Bootcamp, aimed at capacitating and equipping young entrepreneurs and training unemployed young people in entrepreneurship.

The youth and economic transformation objective responds to the need to change the economic status of youth by ensuring that youth are empowered to participate in mainstream economic development activities, as an essential national process aimed at eradicating poverty and meeting the economic needs of youth.

All interventions in terms of this objective will focus on promoting employment, raising incomes, removing barriers that constrain youth participation in the labour market and attain other ‘youth-centred’ economic development outcomes. All three spheres of South Africa’s government have implemented a wide range of initiatives to grow the economy generally and ensure the participation of youth in the mainstream economy in particular. — Charles Molele

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Masina places youth development on the top of the city’s agenda

Masina places youth development on the top of the city’s agenda

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Masina places youth development on the top of the city’s agenda

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The executive mayor of the City of Ekurhuleni Mzwandile Masina is no stranger to youth activism. He joined the Congress of South African Students at the tender age of 16, in reaction to the oppressive language policies introduced by the apartheid regime. Masina later progressed into in the African National Congress Youth League, where he rose up the ranks to ultimately lead the organisation as national convenor. He does not believe that issues affecting the youth should be considered as an afterthought; they must form the basis of all policy decisions made by government.
Speaking at this year’s Ekurhuleni Youth Summit, Masina said: “It is absolutely imperative that Ekurhuleni unlocks the potential of the City’s demographic dividend. The entire municipality must become preoccupied with developing the youth to be creative and productive citizens of the future. We cannot relegate matters facing the youth to a once-a-year summit; conversations around youth unemployment, skills development and gender-based violence must be ongoing.”

This principle also underpins the work of the Ekurhuleni city manager, Dr Imogen Mashazi. As city manager, she is responsible for implementing and overseeing policies crafted by the city council including day-to-day management responsibilities that include financial planning, allocating physical resources and staff management. She is passionate about issues facing the youth and women.

Delivering a keynote address at a Take a Girl Child to Work Day event on May 31, Mashazi bemoaned the high level of gender-based violence in our society and called for the empowerment of women in general.

“While progress is evident in certain areas, we however continue to see numerous shocking incidents of the girl child being murdered and abused in recent times. The latest incident being that of the two Vryburg school girls who were murdered at a school hostel,” said Mashazi.

“Our society continues to see girl child having to fend off rapists, child pregnancy, HIV and Aids and heading families as children. This must come to an end and it all starts with great initiatives like [Take a Girl Child to Work Day].”

Meanwhile, the executive mayor has heeded the call made by President Cyril Ramaphosa during the State of the Nation Address at the beginning of the year, “Now is the time to lend a hand, now is the time for each of us to say ‘send me’, thuma mina”. Upon assuming office in 2016, Masina has swiftly moved to implement measures that support youth development in the City of Ekurhuleni. He began by increasing the Mayoral Bursary Fund from R10-million to R100-million annually, with an intention to double this amount and go beyond R250-million by 2021.
Masina said: “We need to empower the youth of Ekurhuleni with the tools build a better future. Education will allow the youth in the City an opportunity to become more employable and capacitate with the prerequisite skills to start their own businesses. Every child who is deserved and capable should be granted the opportunity to further their education.

To date, we can report that the City of Ekurhuleni has been able to assist 1 757 students in their pursuit of academic qualifications during 2017-2018. As we continue to sustain the current bursary holders, we have also resolved to award an additional 500 new bursaries to academically deserving students out of the 2 802 bursary applicants that met the qualifying criteria.”

Masina went on to support youth empowerment by pronouncing that R12-billion of set-asides must go towards youth-owned companies. To date over 1 722 companies have benefited from the youth set-asides. The executive mayor launched the project Mintirho ya Vulavula (“deeds speak”), which focuses on youth, women, people with disabilities and learner contractors. Over R1-billion has been budgeted for this project, in the hopes to accelerate the upliftment of these vulnerable groups.

In order to co-ordinate and monitor youth development throughout the City, Masina set up the Youth Directorate within his office and tasked it to develop a localised Integrated Youth Development Strategy for the City. The strategy is binding on all departments and senior managers in those departments. Mashazi said, “The City intends to have cross-cutting indicators for senior managers wherein youth development projects will be part of senior managers’ performance areas.”

“The Youth Directorate is a unit within my office, that is run by youth, for the youth. It is important to introduce young people into leadership positions at a very early stage. I am constantly energised after engaging with the youth unit. They bring fresh ideas to the municipality and safeguard the interests of young people.”

Masina believes the most important initiative being undertaken by his administration is the establishment of the Ekurhuleni University of Applied Sciences and Technology. In just under a year, the City has successfully held a university symposium with various stakeholders to gather insight on recommendations for the university. The City has also identified a location for the university to be built and a university advisory council is in the final stages of being set up.

“We can no longer refer to the Fourth Industrial Revolution as a looming disruptor; it is here, and urgent steps need to be taken by government in order to mitigate the adverse effects of technological developments. Automation and Artificial Intelligence are massive threats to job losses in the near future. The Ekurhuleni University of Applied Sciences and Technology will seek to provide the youth with relevant skills for the jobs of the future. We are glad to announce that the minister of higher education has acknowledged the City’s request for the establishment of a university in Ekurhuleni and has subsequently assigned officials to work with the City to realise this vision.

It will provide the youth of Ekurhuleni with the opportunity to lead the country as the first to enrol in such a university. “Our planning process towards the establishment of such a university will equip youth with a unique skill set that is currently associated with advanced countries such as Japan, China, South Korea and the United States which are leading in the areas of science, technology and robotics,” said said Masina.

The combination of these interventions are in line with the mayor’s vision of a pro-poor government. Continued efforts will be made to stop the cycle of poverty in the City. “Our role as an ANC-led government is to change the material conditions of the people of the City. We are unashamedly a pro-poor government. We will utilise education and government spending in order to radically transform the economic structure of the local economy.”

Prior to his election as the executive mayor of the City of Ekurhuleni, Masina was the deputy minister of trade and industry, where he spearheaded the formation of the Black Industrialist Policy, which was tabled in Parliament. — Charles Molele

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Local opportunities for the youth in the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Local opportunities for the youth in the Fourth Industrial Revolution

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Local opportunities for the youth in the Fourth Industrial Revolution

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Young people must equip themselves with the requisite technological skills and educational opportunities in order to survive in our rapidly changing world.

The City of Ekurhuleni’s MMC of Finance Doctor Nkosindiphile Xhakaza made this call during a youth lecture held at the Nigel town hall, which examined local opportunities for the youth in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Xhakaza said the onset of the digital age has meant that certain forms of work are disappearing from the industrial scene and new kinds of jobs are emerging, particularly in Ekurhuleni.

Frequently described as the manufacturing centre of South Africa, the Ekurhuleni municipal region, according to research, accounts for at least a quarter of Gauteng’s entire economic output, with more than 41 000 enterprises supplying a variety of goods and services across more than 8 000 industries.

“In order not to be victims of these changes, all of us suddenly have the unavoidable need to learn competencies in information and communications technology. The ability to use a computer, to be able to search the internet, effectively use social media and understand internet languages have all become necessities, as opposed to luxuries,” said Xhakaza.

He said the City of Ekurhuleni is investing in education in order to equip the youth with the requisite technological skills. The City, according to Xhakaza, has since 2016 increased bursary funding from R10-million to R100-million. He said the City would like to more than double the amount and increase it to R250-million by 2020.

Xhakaza added that the metro was also working towards the establishment of a University of Ekurhuleni, which will specialise in applied sciences and technology and essentially emerge as a university of the future — a path-breaker for other universities in the country.

“This will provide the youth of Ekurhuleni with the opportunity to lead the country as the first students to enrol at such a university. Our planning process points towards a university that will give them a skills set that is associated with advanced countries such as Japan, China, South Korea and the United States that are leading in the areas of science, technology, robotics and artificial intelligence,” said Xhakaza.

“This investment of millions becomes meaningful when we have a youth that takes education very seriously. It needs all of us to work towards encouraging every one of our young people to place a high premium on the value of education and actually take it up on themselves to pursue it.

“The impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution will prove that it us necessary for everyone to develop their competencies through education. The opportunities that will come to life with the gradual growth of our Aerotropolis City demand that we improve our capabilities through education as both future employees in a smart city environment and future investors in smart technologies.”

Xhakaza said as part of the region’s strategy to develop an Airport City, or the Aerotropolis, the administration was focusing on developing it into a smart city; this meant a city with its productivity rooted in digitisation, information technology, robotics and naturally steeped in artificial intelligence.

“We envision a city of the future in which transport services, logistics, manufacturing, storage capabilities, information services and trade services are increasingly mechanised and improved by artificial intelligence,” said the MMC.

“All of this provides an opportunity that you as the youth of the city have to exploit to maximum effect. There is a great scope for investment in technologies that must be led by you. Digitisation involves a great deal of investment in fibre optics to improve connectivity, and the creation of smart apps that can be used in smartphones to produce and share information about the city among its residents.”

Xhakaza said the youth of Ekurhuleni must “wake up and smell the coffee” because they are growing up in a city with immense opportunities. He said the City of Ekurhuleni has a strong, established manufacturing base characterised by mining, heavy manufacturing, light industry and fast-moving consumer goods, thus forming an important part of Gauteng’s Transformation, Modernisation and Re-Industrialisation programme.

“This lecture is to inform you about what you can do compete and position our City for growth and development. The ball is in your court as the youth. You are leading your own revolution. We care; we were students in the 1970s. We were young. This is your time to take up the baton and move the country forward.” — Charles Molele

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