Picture: Young people gathered at Thusong Centre in Setlagole village, near Mahikeng for job opportunities/Facebook
By OBAKENG MAJE
Young people who attended the SA Youth Opportunities Roadshow at Thusong Centre in Setlagole village, near Mahikeng, urged the government to provide them with training and skill development programs. The North West Provincial Government (NWPG) called on job seekers and entrepreneurs to be part of the initiative, where government departments came together and share job opportunities in their sectors respectively.
One of the young people who attended the event, Oratile Kgomoengwe from Lower Majeakgoro village in Taung said, they run the Lower Majeakgoro Youth Cooperative that deals with agriculture and cleaning services. Kgomoengwe further said, young people should visit various government offices to seek help, instead of ‘sitting in the corner’ and ‘whining’.
“As we celebrate Youth Month, my advice to young people is that, please visit your various government offices. There are plenty of opportunities out there. I’ve realised that, many young people are stagnant to visit various government offices to seek opportunities.
“We have started a cooperative back home and visited National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) offices to request funding. We are glad that, everything is promising as we have just met with NYDA officials, and told us that, our funding might come through in the next two weeks,” he said.
An entrepreneur, Otsile Legobate from Wolmaranstad said, he specialises in poultry farming. Legobate, who shared the same sentiments added that, he started his business with only 30 chickens.
“I received assistance from the North West MEC for Agriculture and Rural Development, Desbo Mohono. She launched a program a few years ago and I was part of that. So far, I managed to sell eggs and be self-sufficient.
“I am self-employed and my advice to young people is, let’s make sure that, we use our hands to create job opportunities. Many young people do not like to work using their own hands, but they would rather opt for office work.
“I was impressed to hear the North West MEC for Education, Viola Motsumi saying that, the government has created 2000 opportunities. One of the key challenges facing our young people is that, we do not read,” he said.
The North West MEC for Education, Viola Motsumi said: “The objective of this initiative was to expose young people to opportunities. The North West Premier, Bushy Maape brought this initiative here because Setlagole village is one of the deep rural areas. Most of young people here, do not get exposure to opportunities because there are issues of connectivity and so on.
“We have Netcare here that is working in partnership with the North West Department of Health. It has declared that, it has job opportunities. So, all young people who qualify to be nurses can apply. We understand that young people are confronted with so many challenges and we hope this initiative achieves its objective.”
Meanwhile, the Director of Employment and Labour in North West, Slindile Nkiwane said they have ten labour centres across the province, where young people could visit and register on their database.
Nkiwane said, furthermore, they have an online service, where unemployed job seekers can register on www.labour.gov.za.
“Some of our labour centres have kiosks, where job seekers can go there and utilise that service. They will be able to see job opportunities that are available on the database,” she said.
The Guardian 