Port Elizabeth – The Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber has welcomed the recent announcement that the Eastern Cape government will make R20 million available for skills funding at Volkwagen Group South Africa (VWSA)’s Uitenhage plant.
Chamber CEO, Kevin Hustler, said that unemployment figures were extremely high in the Eastern Cape, with recent studies placing youth unemployment at well over 40 percent in the province.
In light of the 2015 matric results being released on Wednesday, Hustler said that “while radical efforts to make tertiary studies fees more accessible were made in 2015, it is a reality that many graduates of the class of 2015 will not have the privilege to study further this year, entering the flooded job market”.
Hustler added that it was important for these and other youth who were lucky enough to obtain a tertiary education to up-skill themselves further by applying for learnerships so that they were more prepared for the challenges and needs of a workplace.
“In Nelson Mandela Bay specifically, youths should steer their career paths in the direction of our Industrial Development Strategy which encompasses the Automotive, Light Manufacturing, Agro-Processing, Tourism and Hospitality industries as priority areas,” said Hustler.
African News Agency