Free State launches Yes4Youth Programme
The Free State has introduced yet another innovative and ambitious programme as part of its arsenal to fight unemployment, poverty and inequality. Working with Standard Bank, DESTEA announce the Yes4Youth which are meant, not only to provide the unemployed youth with work experience but also to introduce them to the world of business and all its intricacies in order to inculcate the spirit of entrepreneurship.
“We cannot grow the economy with the generation of job seekers. As we change the lives of these young people we have to place them at the heart of the business so that they can demonstrate their talent and play a meaningful role as we create our own economy”, said DESTEA MEC Makalo Mohale.
Working with SMMEs that benefited from DESTEA’s Enterprise support programme, sixty (60) young people with skills in electronics, accounting, business management, economics, food and waste sectors among others, have been identified and will be placed in several SMMEs throughout the province. One of the beneficiaries, Ms. Tankiso Relebohile who studied Business Management, could not contain her excitement. “I cannot wait for 2021 to start with my experiential learning. I am currently unemployed and believe that through this programme I will gain experience and will in the near future be able to open my own business”.
Ms. Nolwazi Nkeane, Provincial Head: Business Banking in Standard Bank said this programme resonate well with their programme of ensuring that young people do not only find employment but become meaningful players in the economic area. “This is our first programme and we will work with DESTEA, SMMEs and young people to ensure its success. We can commit that we will expand this programme to take on more unemployed youth”, she said.
With DESTEA assisting an average of eight hundred (800) enterprises annually, the programme can make a significant contribution in the fight against youth unemployment. With more departments enlisting their SMMEs to this programme, more young people may soon be in the employment or starting their own businesses after training and exposure.
For more details contact:
KTau
Tel: 051 400 9544
Cell: 082 833 9595
Email: tauk@destea.gov.za
