Empowered youth ready to enter the tourism sector
03 December 2015
More than 400 young men and women in the Gauteng City Region improved their chances of securing employment in the tourism sector after completing an intensive 12-month internship programme recently.
Known as Tourism Buddies, the 403 youths – drawn from Johannesburg, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, Sedibeng and the West Rand municipalities – were presented with NQF2 and NQF4 certificates at a graduation ceremony presided over by Deputy Tourism Minister Tokozile Xasa at the Johannesburg City Hall on Thursday November 26. Four top achievers received special recognition.
The Tourism Buddies programme was launched as a pilot in KwaZulu-Natal ahead of the 2010 Soccer World Cup. So far R20-million has been spent training unemployed youth in the sector. The programme is run by VPK Business Venture in conjunction with the national, provincial and local departments of tourism.
The interns spent a month in class and three months undertaking practical work. This was repeated throughout the year, culminating in Thursday’s graduation.
Some of the interns, including top achiever Gundo Mandiwane of Tshwane, have since been offered jobs after impressing the hotels or bed-and-breakfast establishments that hosted them.
“I was in the food and beverages services stream and my hosts asked me to continue on a part-time basis. I’m hopeful they will offer me fulltime employment at a later stage,” said 25-year-old Mandiwane, who trained at Pretoria’s Hotel 224.
“This training was real good, good enough to get us jobs. I learnt so many things and I’m so grateful to the government for doing this for the youth,” she said.
Xabisokazi Nxangashe, 25, said although her hosts did not offer her a job she was hopeful she would get one soon.
“There were many challenges one had to overcome. Sometimes the pressure was just too much but I made it. With this training my prospects of getting a job have improved,” said Nxangashe.
Kgomotso Modiba said his host had offered him a job but he turned down because it paid R2 200, the same amount as the stipend he received during training.
“It was too little, considering that I would have to travel to Krugersdorp daily. I am confident I will get a job in Pretoria. The training we received was really good,” said Modiba.
Deputy Minister Xasa told the graduates that while fulltime employment was ideal, the youth must aim even higher. She encouraged them to start their own businesses or go back to school.
“You have achieved a milestone today. From where I’m standing, I see faces full of hope, lives redefined and young people ready to take on the opportunities available.
This includes thinking out of the box, embracing technology to make an impact in tourism, South African’s fastest growing sector.
“In 2009 President Jacob Zuma identified tourism as one of the top six sectors to focus on. Then it was contributing 8% to the GDP with one million jobs. Today it’s contributing between 9% and 10% and employs 1.4 million people.
“Go out there and develop new products. We want to attract more international tourists and grow the domestic market. We can do this by growing niche markets unique to South Africa,” Xasa said.