DURBAN - The first Community Hub from the Youth Employment Service (YES) was launched yesterday.
The hub is an infrastructure solution that is targeted at addressing the unemployment challenges in South Africa.
The YES initiative which was launched by President Cyril Ramaphosa this year is a social impact initiative that will see government, business and labour work together to give one million youth one million opportunities over the next few years.
The launch is the first step towards the goal of establishing 100 Community Hubs across the country. The hubs will give rural areas and business communities business infrastructure.
The hubs are a part of the Development SMME Development Strategy from the YES initiative and house three focus areas.
The three focus areas are:
1. Business development
2. Route to market
3. Skills training
More than 60% of the unemployed people in South Africa are from the townships. Through the hubs small businesses will be able to use idle youth labour while starting up local economies and boosting domestic markets.
The hub is fitted with modern technology and staff that are skilled. The hub has been created as an inclusive and engaging platform through which both existing and aspiring businesses can enhance their business or ideas.
The Community Hub which is located in Tembisa has been made possible through investments from companies like Sanlam, Investec and Unilever.
The CEO of YES Tashmia Ismail-Saville said that the launch of the first hub is a visible demonstration brought to life, that is a true collaboration between government, corporates and the community.
YES and MTN
This past April, MTN announced that they will be creating 1000 jobs to support the YES initiative.
According to MTN, they will be creating the jobs across their South African business and Group head offices that will be both operational and functional roles.
Rob Shuter the MTN Group President and CEO said,"YES is an innovative social partnership that has the potential to be a significant catalyst for economic growth and development."
Other companies have also joined the initiative including Absa, Sasol, Shoprite and Spar.
- BUSINESS REPORT ONLINE