Employment and Labour Minister, Thulas Nxesi, says government spheres must do away with a “silos mentality” as it prevents service delivery programmes from reaching ordinary citizens.
In an effort to eradicate unemployment in South Africa, particularly among the youth, Nxesi engaged several potential employers and work-seekers at the Saldanha and Vredenburg areas in the Western Cape on Thursday.
The Department of Employment and Labour is hosting a two-day jobs fair and service delivery initiative, where Nxesi has paid a visit to work-seekers at the local Vredenburg Sports Ground.
The two-day event commenced with an Employer Breakfast Session where the Minister led discussions on labour market issues and addressing unemployment in the province.
Nxesi said unemployment and employment have nothing to do with politics.
“I want to repeat this, employment or no employment knows no politics. It is a crisis facing our young people. Therefore, when we deal with the issue of unemployment, we must know that we are dealing with a crisis, which is facing our young people.
“And we are saying, we are interacting with all the Premiers, but our intention is very simple because the Premiers have the authority to talk with their departments and their municipalities. At the end of the day, if we want these programmes to be relevant they must come to the district and local municipalities and that is our logic,” he said.
He is of the view that the problem with the state is not allowing each sphere of government to conduct programmes in provincial, district and local government.
“The District Development Model (DDM) says we must come down to the people to talk with them. The President said he wants integration and coordination of all the programmes between national and all spheres of government.
“We should do away with the silos. The problem with government is silo mentality and territorial,” he added.
The department and the Minister have since embarked on the initiative to provide a platform for employers to share information, engage with stakeholders and develop partnerships.
The jobs fair initiative is championed by the department’s Public Employment Services (PES) branch and seeks to create opportunities for work seekers and provide a platform to interact with prospective employers.
“These efforts should be understood against President [Cyril] Ramaphosa’s 2019 Budget Speech in which he committed government to the roll-out of a new integrated district-based approach – popularly known as the DDM tailored to promote and support local businesses and local communities.”
Nxesi raised concerns about the unemployment rate on the West Coast, which he said was “alarmingly high”.
“In an attempt to mitigate this, the department has considered the Jobs and Careers Fair as a useful platform where the unemployed, especially the youth, can meet with prospective employers from different sectors to access both jobs and learning opportunities,” said the Minister.
The inter-departmental jobs fair involves the Departments of Small Business Development and Higher Education, Science and Innovation.
The session also provides a platform where people can get access to career information and employment counselling; registration of work-seekers and exhibitions by various departments; registration of vacancies and or recruit work-seekers on the Employment System of South Africa. – SAnews.gov.za
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