In a first of its kind for Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, more than 300 beneficiaries
were inducted to form part of the Metro’s 2024 internships and learnerships programme in an effort to upskill the unemployed and equip them as potential entrepreneurs.
The programme is a partnership between NMBM and the Local Government Sector Education and Training Authority (LGSETA) and will benefit a total of 303 young people with the focus on unemployed youth including graduates. The beneficiaries will be trained in various sectors including electrical, internal auditing, plumbing, security, urban and regional planning and end-user-computing among others.
NMBM Deputy Executive Mayor, Cllr Babalwa Lobishe and Corporate Services Mayoral Committee Member, Cllr Yolisa Pali, welcomed the group of excited young men and women during the induction which was held at the Feather Market Hall in Gqeberha.
“Today is a good day in our City as we are welcoming you on this 12 month journey you will undertake. A lot of work has led us to this moment, this journey started last year when we applied to LGSETA for the grant to fund this programme and in April this year we were finally awarded the grant of about R16million. As you start the learnerships or internships from June we want you to take this opportunity and build on it. When you successfully complete the courses, you will be equipped to start your own work or knock on various doors for employment. This will be a skill no one can take away from you,” the Deputy Mayor said.
She added that through the programme, the Metro was working to ensure that more young people are enrolled to become more employable or become entrepreneurs.
“There is a need in our Metro to have more plumbers and electricians. That is why we
encourage the beneficiaries that will be trained in those fields to really utilise this
opportunity for their advancement. It is the first time that we have enrolled such a big
number and we believe this is the beginning of something great. We want to encourage people to apply when we advertise such opportunities,” she said.
Beneficiary Akhona Kethani said he was looking forward to the training as he was currently not in training or employment.
“I am grateful for this opportunity, I think this will help me as I will be trained in the electrical field. I was sitting at home not in training and not in employment. I was looking for education opportunities but due to my background at home it was not easy to enrol so I’m happy. I will be gaining a new skill now,” Kethani said.
Another beneficiary, Veliswa Tlaka-Nomtoto said she was happy there was no age limitation during the application process.
“It was quite refreshing to not be limited by the 18-35 age requirement that we normally
get when we apply for opportunities. I will be doing the general security practice
learnership, the opportunity came at the right time as I am so hungry to learn, I will
grab the opportunity with both hands,” Tlaka-Nomtoto said.
NMB Communications
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