Pretoria – Minister of Environmental Affairs Edna Molewa has launched a R30 million project to address waste challenges as well as create youth unemployment in Mohlakeng, Randfontein.
“The Gauteng Youth Jobs in Waste Programme has employed 492 youths. This comprises 271 young ladies, 211 young men and 10 youth living with disabilities,” Minister Molewa said on Thursday.
The programme has created over 4 000 job opportunities across the country since its launch in 2013.
The Department of Environmental Affairs is implementing a Working on Waste (WoW) sub-programme under the auspices of the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) which seeks to address the problem of increased volumes of waste and backlogs in the provision of waste services, especially in urban-informal areas, tribal areas and rural formal areas.
The Gauteng Youth Jobs in Waste programme is designed to assist local municipalities across the West Rand and Sedibeng District Municipality, including the Randfontein Local Municipality, to solve some of the environmental challenges in general, and waste management in particular.
The waste sector has been identified as a key role-player in achieving the goal of economic upliftment through job creation as the country works towards reaching the National Development Plan’s goal of creating an environmentally sustainable, climate change resilient, low-carbon economy and just society by 2030.
“The Youth Jobs in Waste Programme was designed to address some of the critical areas of assistance including capacity building, where youth are placed in municipalities for a period of a year to assist with administration relating to waste collection and planning,” the department said.
The two projects under implementation will cater for accredited and non-accredited training opportunities for the local youth employed through these projects.
This will equip them with the necessary skills that will enable them to find employment opportunities upon exiting the project.
Minister Molewa said her department has implemented a total of 85 projects nationwide to support local government through the installation and construction of numerous waste sorting, composting and recovery facilities as a means of redirecting waste from landfill sites.
The capacity building programmes that form part of the Youth Jobs in Waste initiative assist municipalities in terms of street cleaning, waste collection, landfill administration and operation, and waste recycling.
“Despite a total estimated value of R25 billion to the South African economy, the current rate of waste recycling has not been maximised which meant that its full potential has not been realised.
“To grow this important economic sector, government has identified an additional 34 Working on Waste projects committing R420.8 million to their development for the 2016/17 and 2018/19 financial years,” said Minister Molewa. – SAnews.gov.za
