The Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber (Chamber) has announced a strategic partnership with Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator (Harambee), to collaborate with key stakeholders in helping to address the technical skills shortage in the metro, with a particular focus on creating employment opportunities for the youth.
Through this collaboration, Harambee, which is a leading South African social enterprise that works with partners to innovate solutions will support the Chamber in establishing a Skills Development Desk. The initial priority will be to focus on mapping current and future industry demand through a skills audit, and developing a demand led skilling strategy that includes matching upskilled youth and displaced workers with job opportunities.
In addition, the Desk will serve as the action arm of the Chamber’s Local Economy Reinvention Think Tank’s workstream. By adopting a demand-led approach, this initiative seeks to effectively reduce youth unemployment in Nelson Mandela Bay, identifying necessary skills and coordinating the implementation of specific training interventions.
Denise van Huyssteen, Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber, noted that a 2023 Department of Higher Education and Training report showed South Africa has over a 50% skills mismatch. “The major employers in the Bay are in the manufacturing sector and based on their feedback, there is a technical skills shortage. This often results in companies having to import skills from other parts of the country and other countries, and also poaching talent from one another. The demand is for people who have Mathematics core at a matric level and the acumen to train in technical fields to fill critical positions such as engineers, artisans, electricians, fitters, technicians, software developers, data science and cloud computing,” said Van Huyssteen. “Unemployment runs at unacceptably high levels but yet there is a dire technical skills shortage. It is therefore vital that this gap is closed. This partnership with Harambee, alongside the Eastern Cape Development Corporation, is a catalyst for directly responding to industry skills requirements and by doing so, retaining and creating employment opportunities.”
Following a thorough interview process that involved both the Chamber and Harambee, Priscilla Fry has been appointed as the programme manager for the skills development desk. Priscilla brings over 20 years working experience in the skills development ecosystem where she previously served as a training and accreditation manager at AIDC-EC.
Harambee’s Chief Opportunity Development Officer, Stephen Shields, expressed that: “This partnership aligns with Harambee’s broader mission to transform the South African labour market by working with diverse partners to reduce the barriers that young people face to enter the labour market. We are working together to promote inclusive hiring with employers, increase access to earning opportunities, provide demand-led skilling and ultimately contribute to local economic development.”
The Chamber’s Skills Development Desk will officially be launched next month.
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Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) is a beautiful city located on the coast in the Eastern Cape Province and is known as the “Friendly City”, with other towns in this district including Kariega (Uitenage) and Despatch. Forming part of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro, Gqeberha has stunning beaches, historical museums and memorials, award-winning wildlife sanctuaries and super friendly people, making it a spectacular holiday destination.
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Employment in the mining industry grew from just under 449,000 in 2004 to a little above 530,000 in June 2012 (Business Day)