Pact to upgrade youth skills in local govt

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Pretoria – A new chapter for skills development in local government has begun, with the signing of an agreement that will see youth being trained to work in the sector.

The agreement was signed earlier this week between the Department of Cooperative Governance, the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agency (MISA) and the Local Government Sector Education and Training Authority (LGSETA).

LGSETA will train unemployed youth in artisanship and other scarce skills, which will see them being employed in the local government sector to build water and electrical infrastructure. They will also maintain this infrastructure after it is built.

Signing the MoU, the Director-General of Cooperative Governance, Vusimuzi Madonsela, said the agreement will improve the quality of lives of unemployed youth.

“With this agreement, we also plan to roll out the training of administrative staff, senior management and councillors as part of government’s priority to professionalise the local government sector,” said Madonsela.

The agreement is a prelude to the Local Government Institute, which will be launched next month by the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Lechesa Tsenoli.

Elected representatives and municipal staff will also be trained in financial management, technical expertise, public sector leadership and management skills. – SAnews.gov.za