Unemployed offered Jozi@Work cake

08 February 2016

 

Several work packages valued at tens of thousands of rands under Jozi@Work were offered to hundreds of small township businesses and co-operatives in the City of Johannesburg’s Region G over four days last week.

 

Jozi@Work is a R3-billion empowerment and job creation programme championed by Johannesburg Executive Mayor Cllr Parks Tau to help tackle unemployment, poverty and inequality in the city.

The packages were presented by City officials during information-sharing sessions in Finetown, Zakariyya Park, Protea South and Orange Farm. The fifth session, in Ennerdale, was postponed to Monday February 15.

Under the programme, the City’s entities and departments are required to set aside a portion of their annual budgets to create work and business opportunities for the unemployed by outsourcing some of their projects to Jozi@Work’s registered beneficiaries.

The work opportunities offered in the region last week included litter picking; raking; grass cutting; weeding; and removal of rubble in public open spaces, flagship road islands and town entrances. No exact values of the work packages were given as these were to be determined by the entities concerned.

Applicants were informed that they needed only to prove their basic gardening skills and ability to identify weeds and to use different types of machinery. In assessing the applications, the City looks at abilities rather qualifications. The progarmme’s Capability Support Agent (CSA) offers support to successful applicants and supervises standards and quality of work carried out by the beneficiaries.

According to Innocent Mulanndwa, an Administrative Assistant in Region G, it is important for applicants to properly complete the expression of interest form.

“Many of the applicants were unsuccessful in the past because they did not properly and fully complete all the sections in the EOI form. So we want to make sure that applicants fill in these forms in full and properly,” he said.

Miriam Mngomezulu, 46, of Lawley, was among those who attended the Finetown session. She said she reckoned her previous application was unsuccessful because she had not completed the form the way Mulanndwa had explained.

“I’m hoping that this time around my application will be successful. I’m confident because I have joined up with three of my unemployed friends. We are applying for a work package to clean the streets and public spaces in our area. This will help us earn a living and assist in keeping our environment clean, creating a healthy environment for all of us,” she said.