Picture: North West Premier, Supra Mahumapelo 

BY REGINALD KANYANE

NORTH West Premier, Supra Mahumapelo said part of the provincial strategy to deal with the high percentage of unemployment among the youth in the province is to refocus the existing Extended Public Works Programme (EPWP) from being mainly about cleaning of environment to being innovation focused and skills development driven.

Mahumapelo addressed the VTSD Skills Development Lekgotla held at Madiba Banquet Hall in Potchefstroom recently.

“Important about the refocused EPWP will be to ponder extension of the employment contract from 12 to 24 months, to enable beneficiaries’ sufficient time to be trained before being released for their actual work through applicable recruitment processes”, he said. Mahumapelo added that some of the schools closed as part of the rationalisation process must be used as innovation and training centres for these EPWP beneficiaries.

Mahumapelo said through the North West Development Corporation (NWDC), EPWP beneficiaries will also be trained on fields such as security services, this with a view to pave way for them to be absorbed or recruited by institutions such as the South African Police Service (SAPS), the South African National Defense Force (SANDF), State Security Agency (SSA) and other government institutions in the province.

He said the EPWP beneficiaries’ involvement in the Agriculture, Culture and Tourism sectors cannot be over-emphasised.

“In an attempt to increase the impact of agricultural extension in particularly our villages, we will have to identify these EPWP beneficiaries and give them a short training on the basics of agricultural extension, this to ensure that they contribute meaningfully in the province’s endeavor to improve delivery of services in this sector.

“We call on young unemployed youth to take advantage of initiatives introduced by the provincial government through EPWP, to better their lives. The province will ensure that the refocused EPWP is rolled out before the end of this quarter,” he said.

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Picture: ANCYL President, Collen Maine 

THE ANC Youth League  (ANCYL) president, Collen Maine paid homage to struggle stalwart Anton Lembede who was described as being part of a generation that altered the struggle patterns in South Africa.

This was during the ANCYL’ s 73rd anniversary in Klerksdorp. Maine compared Lembede with the likes of the late ANCYL Secretary-General Sindiso Magaqa.

“We meet here to celebrate a collossus of the ANC struggle for a non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous South Africa.

“President Lembede was part of the youth that altered the struggle patterns in South Africa. He was part of the generation that introduced militant tactics and radical views,” Maine said.
Lembede is accredited with the motto of “freedom in our lifetime” of which the likes of Mxolisi Majombozi, William Nkomo, OR Tambo, Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu were also a part.
“As we celebrate and commemorate the life of president Lembede we are sad to have learned of the untimely departure of one of the pioneers of the generation of economic freedom fighters, Sindiso Magaqa,” Maine said.
He further said Magaqa was also a courageous leader who believed that the ANC was the only party to usher in economic freedom, just like the generation of Lembede.
“As ANCYL, we are engaged with government and private sector on a number of issues to ensure that youth development takes centre stage in the transformation of our country,”
Maine said the future is now in terms of the ANCYL growing in its wisdom and durability.
Source: www.thenewage.co.za