Productivity SA, a public entity of the Department of Labour (DoL) has announced it is establishing a joint effort with the Youth Group of Companies (YGC) to develop youth entrepreneurs.
Chief executive of Productivity SA Bongani Coka told the second annual YGC Youth Business Festival Expo at Maponya Mall in Soweto today (June 4) that his organisation would be assisting small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) associated with the organisation on business start-up and/or business development workshops in the future to ensure productivity measurements are in place from establishment throughout the growth phases of the businesses.
Coka’s announcement coincides with the start of the youth month, and the launch of the DoL’s two-day inaugural Jobs Fair initiative that will be held on Thursday in East London.
The Jobs Fair, is a national initiative, which is part of Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant through DoL’s Public Employment Services (PES) geared towards building a working relationship with social partners and providing a link between work seekers and potential job opportunities. It is part of a service delivery outcome that of “Decent employment through inclusive economic growth”.
“Entrepreneurs should be able to identify by means of ‘early warning indicators’ in their business, when productivity is in decline and how to remedy when this is identified. This is a key factor to small business growth - regardless of sector.
“We believe that through the establishment of partnerships with like-minded entities we can ensure maximum impact for entrepreneurial development in South Africa. We would like to use this opportunity to encourage all the entrepreneurs in the house, and the ‘like-minded’ entities to partner with us to ensure that South African small businesses receive all the assistance they can get,” Coka said.
The YGC is a 100% black-owned business events and enterprise development company established in 2008. The group provides a professional platform for young entrepreneurs to develop their businesses to greater heights.
Bheki Radebe chief executive of YGC made an earnest appeal on the youth to take entrepreneurship seriously in order to help stem the tide of growing unemployment.
Bernice Hlagala, a director in presidency responsible for youth development, told the youth festival that the advancement of young people was a high priority in the national agenda. Hlagala said despite advances made in youth development, there was a need to broadening the scale of delivery impact on youth development programmes.
She said youth was the future of tomorrow and needed to be exposed to opportunities so as not to pose a threat to social cohesion.
Coka said to lay a foundation for improving the standard of living in the future, South Africa should build the productive capacity of people who will be driving the economy in the future, which includes the youth.
According to Coka the development and enhancement of the productive capacity of small enterprises continues to be one of the key activities at Productivity SA.
In the past financial year, Coka said Productivity SA has through its two flagship products: the Business Performance Improvement Workshop (BPIW) and Business Start-Up Workshop for Cooperatives (BSUWA) supported a total of 3 791 small businesses and 91 of which were trained in Soweto.
“These programmes are action learning solutions for small enterprises and cooperatives to improve profitability, growth and employment creation within these sectors,” he said.
Department of Labour’s Productivity SA punts youth entrepreneurship development through efficiency
