Vulindlel’eJozi goes to communities

06 August 2015

 

Vulindlel’ eJozi – a R150-million programme designed to break down barriers to opportunities for the youth of the City of Johannesburg has begun creating awareness in communities on how young people can be part of it.

 

Teams of officials working on the Vulindlel’ eJozi programme, a partnership between the City of Johannesburg and Harambee Youth Accelerator, have over the past few weeks been visiting several centres in the city to encourage youths to register on the programme.

 

The teams have visited nine areas since the programme was officially launched on Youth Day on June 1 this year. The initiative was announced by Johannesburg Executive Councillor Parks Tau during his State of the City Address on May 6.

 

The areas that have been covered so far include Orange Farm, Cosmo City and Braamfischerville.  This week sees the wrap-up of the roadshow with visits to the Orlando East Communal Hall in Soweto (Region D) on Wednesday August 5 and the Zakariyya Park Community Hall in Zakariyya Park, near Lenasia (Region G), on Thursday August 6.

 

Youths can also register by logging onto www.vulindlelejozi.mobi. Those without internet access can register at the City of Johannesburg’s regional community centres or access the mobi site from various City libraries and free Wi-Fi hotspots.

 

“We are a city where the young lead the call for transformation, demanding the opportunity to work, to improve their lives, and become the best of what they can be,” Mayor Tau said.  He added that “Johannesburg is a city that knows and understands that with just a little help, our youth are not the challenge some think them to be but our greatest asset”.

 

Vulindlel’ eJozi aims to assist registered youth with possible work placements or tackle entry barriers such as work readiness, foundation numeracy, literacy and digital literacy by providing training.   The programme aims to reach up to 200 000 young people with various opportunities that include job readiness training, further education and entrepreneurship skills development. 

 

Harambee has already begun screening, assessing and advising young people who came out to find out more about Vulindlel’ eJozi. The organisation is set to identify and create opportunities for young people based on their aptitudes and capabilities.

 

Some of the opportunities will include employment in companies of all sizes, public works programmes, national youth service programmes and micro-enterprise development channels such as Jozi@Work.