The training and up-skilling of unemployed black youth is critical for transforming sectors that are white dominated such as piloting, aviation and farming, said the Minister of Labour in Ngwelezane, KwaZulu-Natal, today (26 April 2019).
The Minister was speaking during the launch of training programmes that are funded by the Department of Labour’s Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) to create jobs, boost skills and enable entrepreneurship for unemployed youth and UIF beneficiaries who lost their jobs.
Oliphant stressed that in the past and in some cases today, various sectors like aviation and farming are still dominated by whites. She said it was against this background, that the UIF was currently funding predominantly black and young learners to be trained as pilots and organic farmers to transform the sectors and pave the way for more black pilots and farmers.
The Minister revealed that the UIF had signed partnership agreements with various training providers and institutions to implement training for 3000 learners under Umhlathuze Municipality, North of KwaZulu-Natal, over the next few years. The training in Umhlathuze would include various fields such as carpentry; maritime; water and sanitation. The training will include theoretical and practical training and learners will receive monthly stipend during the duration of the training.
“I would like to urge all the learners that have been recruited to be disciplined and complete their training so we can continue to train other unemployed youth and people. Your training, once you are successful, will go a long way, in not boosting your skills but transforming the employment sectors that need transformation,” said Oliphant.
UIF Commissioner, Teboho Maruping, said the UIF was funding the training through its Labour Activation Programme (LAP) unit to create jobs; improve skills and enable entrepreneurship amongst unemployed youth and UIF beneficiaries in Umhlathuze and the rest of the country.
Speaking on behalf of the beneficiaries, Ntokozo Zwane, expressed that he and his peers were over the moon to undergo the training. “We are extremely grateful because most of the youth are unemployed in the country. We certainly hope that the training will help us obtain jobs or start successful businesses. We also urge the Department of Labour to do this for other young people who are unemployed,” said Zwane.
The event was attended by Umhlathuze Mayor, Mdu Mhlongo, senior government officials, UIF board members and various state owned entities.
Source: Department of Labour