Johannesburg - Tomorrow must be better than today for those who make up the vast ranks of the unemployed youth, says Joburg mayor Parks Tau who was speaking during his State of the City Address on Wednesday morning.
There would be a focus on youth in the coming year, he said, with the roll-out of Vulindlel’eJozi, a programme aimed at creating jobs and opportunities for 200 000 youths by next year.
The city entered into a partnership with Harambee Youth Accelerator, a youth social development enterprise started by the private sector, to drive the first year of the programme.
It would begin with screening, assessment and advisory services for candidates. This would be followed by foundation literacy, numeracy and digital literacy.
The programme would identify and create opportunities for young people based on their aptitudes and capabilities. This would include formal employment in companies of all sizes, public works programmes, national youth service programmes and micro-enterprise development channels such as Jozi@work, a city programme that addressed poverty and inequality in tandem with communities that responded to problems in neighbourhoods and co-produce municipal services.
Another focus, said Tau, was the expansion of free public wi-fi hot spots across the city.
“We have 4.8 million people in the city, but 50 percent do not have regular access to the internet.
“Digital access is becoming as much of an equality issue in our society as access to water and electricity,” he said.
The city was in the process of “blanketing” Braamfontein with wi-fi that provided high-speed broadband access.
Another focus area would be education. Tau said only 13.2 percent of Joburg residents had a tertiary qualification.
“The challenge is mobility up the higher education ladder. To address this, the city is using the Massive Open Online Varsity to encourage people to get online qualifications.
“So far, 40 people have enrolled. We hope to connect hundreds of students citywide with recognised, online courses offered by various international institutions,” he said.
Linked to this was the establishment of the Tshimologong Precinct in Braamfontein, in partnership with Wits, as a dedicated area for digital start-ups.
Other projects included the Hack.Jozi programme which has sourced the best new app ideas to help run the city better.
Blue economy projects were another important area.
In this regard, the city was being assisted by Professor Gunter Pauli, the Belgian economist and entrepreneur, and 130 experts to find projects using what was locally available, said Tau.
“These are projects geared to the implementation of cutting-edge science into social, ecological and competitive initiatives that realise growth and address poverty, unemployment and inequality,” he said.
One example was a project that used fruit trimmings to replace some of the flour in bread – it’s cheaper and healthier.
Another blue economy project was the setting up of mushroom farms.
Tau, who invited the Joburg Migrant Advisory Panel to the event, said the city did not regard urbanisation as an obstacle, but rather as an opportunity.
“Our diversity is a source of strength and social cohesion, as a building block for community growth,” he said.
“All of us must fight back with clearly voiced reason against the toxic falsehood that economic opportunity is limited and that migrants deprive local people by participating in our economy.
“Our home is your home,” Tau said
The Star