Minister in the Presidency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME), Jeff Radebe, says millions of jobs needed in South Africa can be created through the private sector, which controls about 75% of the country’s economy.
The Minister on Friday said young entrepreneurs are capable of creating the much needed jobs.
Minister Radebe, who is also the Chairperson of the National Planning Commission, spoke to media briefly at the Union Buildings in Tshwane, after making an announcement about the support by Liquid Telecom, Cisco and Altron to the National Development Plan (NDP) Youth Ambassador Programme.
He said the youth are the main drivers of change in society and ought to be at the forefront of the implementation of the NDP as the long-term vision of the country.
“The youth are an integral part of our Vision 2030. We must empower them to be the champions of growth and development in our society,” said Minister Radebe.
He said young people need wings to fly high. “Our responsibility as government is to create that necessary environment for the private sector to come on board and give our young people the future they deserve.”
This is necessary for South Africa to realise economic development, which Minister Radebe said government cannot succeed on its own in addressing societal challenging that affects citizens.
Partnership with DPME
He announced that Cisco, Altron, Liquid Telecom, Proudly South Africa, PRIMEDIA, Multichoice and the National Development Agency (NYDA) have officially joined partnership with the DPME.
Cisco has committed more than R300 000 to the entire programme. They also offer seven free online training courses including digital literacy, entrepreneurship, and cybersecurity essentials, among other subjects.
Liquid Telecom has committed about R200 000 to the programme. This amount will be shared between two ambassadors, Mogau Sesheoshe and Nneile Nkholise.
Minister Radebe said these funds will assist towards the enhancement of their businesses and boost their growth opportunities.
Seshoeshe is the brains behind The Lazy Makoti, a company that empowers rural and township women to host cooking classes on local traditional cuisine and sell handcrafted, locally produced kitchen accessories.
Liquid Telecom supports her aspirations to revive and encourage a love for the rich South African food.
Another beneficiary, Nkholise, is an impact entrepreneur and founder of iMed Tech currently incubated at Innovation Hub, which is working on the application of additive manufacturing to produce custom-made external prosthesis. Liquid Telekom embraces this initiative because they believe in its vision.
Learning and development
The Group Executive Marketing Manager at Altron, Zipporah Maubane, told SAnews that Altron has identified learning and development as a focus area for business.
“We have about eight business units which every NDP ambassador will have an opportunity to work with. They will be mentored, be exposed to experts in the industry, best technology solutions that we are creating on the daily basis.
“They will be equipped with more than what they already know through the support we will be providing through our partnership with the DPME,” said Maubane.
She believes that young people are a catalyst to South Africa’s economic growth, and through the company’s contribution and support youth will be able to reduce unemployment in the country, eradicate poverty and stimulate economic growth.
Mentorship programme
Minister Radebe said the ambassadors stand to gain more experience through the mentorship programme.
The mentorship programme is intended at enhancing their business skills and nurture their talent so that it benefits the broader society.
He and the ambassadors met with captains of industry in September to introduce the ambassadors to the business sector and foster a strong relationship on youth entrepreneurship.
NDP Youth Ambassador programme
The NDP Youth Ambassador programme is an endeavour aimed at providing a platform for young people to share ideas that will take South Africa forward and contribute in stimulating the country’s economy.
It was established as an intervention to ensure that youth are part and parcel of developmental endeavours in society.
The programme was conceived as an intervention aimed at promoting youth entrepreneurship to boost economic growth, increase employment, and reduce poverty and inequality.
The programme now has a total of 37 NDP ambassadors who have been selected from a variety of fields.
They are some of the most outstanding innovators, investors, entrepreneurs and career trailblazers in the country and are remarkable achievers in their respective fields selected from different provinces. - SAnews.gov.za
