Jozi@Work dishes out jobs to Alex residents

18 July 2016

 

Six suitably qualified co-operatives and small township businesses in the City of Johannesburg’s Region E are to shortly partner with the City under the Jozi@Work Programme to undertake massive maintenance and cleaning work at all three single-sex hostels in Alexandra.

 

A total of 72 local residents are expected to be employed by the six winning bidders.  The work will be carried out over 12 months – from 1 September 2016 to 30 August 2017.

 

This was announced by the City's Housing Department officials at three separate Jozi@Work regional forums over the past week.

The forums, or briefing sessions, were held at the Klipfontein Community Centre, Marlboro Community Centre and Alex Sankopano Multipurpose Centre on different days. 

 

Jozi@Work is an unprecedented initiative spearheaded by Johannesburg Executive Mayor Cllr Parks Tau to empower and uplift small businesses in a large scale by awarding them labour intensive municipal contracts that include garden services, landscaping, grass cutting, refuse removal, street sweeping, cleaning, maintenance and repairs.

 

In the 2015-2016 financial year, the City set aside R1-billion for this purpose.  The three Alexandra hostels that will benefit from this latest Jozi@Work project are Madala, Helen Joseph and Nobuhle. 

 

The preferred service providers will be responsible for the cleaning of floors, passages, laundries, kitchens, hostel offices, concrete stairs and landings.  The total value of the six contracts was, however, not furnished.

 

Phindi Lethoko, the City's Jozi@Work Regional Co-ordinator, was highly impressed with the quality of the questions the prospective service providers asked at the forums.   She said it was encouraging that people now had a better understanding of the programme.  “In the beginning it used to be chaotic. As you saw for yourself, the presentations were well attended. Our main aim as the City really is to partner with and empower small businesses and co-operatives in the various communities. This is about them,” she said. 

 

Lethoko said the six the preferred service providers were expected to hire 12 cleaners each or 24 per hostel.  The service providers will each also have an equal number of blocks and floors to be cleaned and maintained.

 

The selection process will get under way soon and the names of the preferred service providers will be announced in a few weeks’ time.