Day: December 2, 2021

Head of Project Management in the Presidency, Rudi Dicks, says the first phase of the Basic Education Employment Initiative is one of the biggest public employment programmes South Africa has seen.

At least 300 000 young people were employed through the programme from December 2020 to the end of April when the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the economy.

“This was 22 000 schools across South Africa, every single community was affected, 320 000 young people were brought into the system. The DBE programme is the flagship, it is one of the most important programmes and one of the largest,” Dicks said.

The initiative forms part of government’s employment stimulus package which contributed to the creation of at least 580 000 employment opportunities, sustained jobs and sustained livelihoods.

Basic Education DDG Paddy Padayachee said the first phase of the initiative was deliberately youth driven.

“When we help the youth, we will be helping their families who have lost income as well their communities and we could not stand by. We looked at it as the future of our country is in the hands of the youth and if [we need] to intervene now and the pandemic gave us the opportunity to do so.”

Padayachee explained that the programme relaxed the requirements needed for the job with an eye on doing so further in the second phase.

“There were minimum qualifications required but for the general assistants, we have relaxed that as well. We also insisted that the youth [within a 5km locality of a school] have to be employed so other people from other cities cannot be employed and this also eliminated the transport costs. There also needed to be some kind of verification of how the selection was done,” he said.

A beneficiary of the programme, Joudon Rooi, said the programme came to his aid when he had lost his job in Saudi Arabia and was forced to come back home with no plan on how he would earn money.

“I was at home, it was strict lockdown, with no job. The programme was a blessing in disguise. I got the opportunity…and it was amazing. Unfortunately my contract ended and I’m currently working [elsewhere] but that’s thanks to the exposure that I got from this project.

“It has changed my life immensely. I became financially independent and I finally got the opportunity to study,” he said.

Some 280 000 more youth have been recruited for the second phase of the initiative and took up duty at the beginning of November.

Source: South African Government News Agency

South Africa and Côte d’Ivoire have on Thursday concluded a historic engagement which saw the signing of ten memoranda of understanding and agreements in various areas of cooperation.

In a room full of media in Abidjan, the South African and Ivorian delegations took centre stage for the signing ceremony.

The agreements cover areas such as defence, agriculture, a bilateral air services agreement, a cooperation agreement in the field of youth matters, and an agreement on economic and technical cooperation in the fields of energy, geology, mines and metallurgy, among others.

Making remarks during a media briefing on the occasion of his State Visit, President Cyril Ramaphosa said that he and his Ivorian Counterpart President Alassane Ouattara have agreed to work together on multilateral and global issues of mutual concern, including the reform of the UN Security Council.

He said the visit is historic because it is the first State Visit between the two countries since the establishment of diplomatic relations many years ago.

“This has been for us a most productive and rewarding State Visit and engagement, giving real meaning and purpose to this historic first State Visit,” the President said.

The State Visit aims to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries with a view to create a strategic partnership that will be enduring and mutually-beneficial.

“We have just witnessed the signing of ten memoranda of understanding and agreements in various areas of cooperation. We have undertaken to deepen trade and investment between our two countries.

“Based on the priorities and comparative advantages of both our countries, we have agreed on the need to increase investment in value addition in agriculture and agro-processing, and in the development of the mining sector,” the President said.

He said that they will prioritise investment in public-private infrastructure projects as outlined in the Ivorian National Development Plan 2021-2025.

“We are looking to expand trade in petroleum products, fresh produce, retail and agricultural products, and to explore opportunities for medical and educational tourism,” he said.

President Ramaphosa noted that the portfolio of South African investment in Côte d’Ivoire is growing rapidly and a number of South African companies, including major banks and telecommunication companies, are operating in the country.

“Several of our state-owned enterprises are negotiating investment promotion activities in sectors such as oil and gas, mining and geoscience,” he said.

By increasing economic cooperation, the President said the two nations are looking to address the common challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality, with a particular focus on the empowerment of women, youth and people with disabilities.

“In this regard, I am particularly pleased with the signing of an agreement on cooperation in the field of youth, and a cooperation agreement in the fields of women’s empowerment and gender equality,” he said.

The President extended his gratitude to President Ouattara for the demonstration of solidarity in agreeing that the State Visit should go ahead, amid the discovery of Omicron variant which resulted in travel bans imposed on the country.

“The imposition of travel bans on South Africa and a number of countries in the Southern African region are regrettable, unfair and unscientific.

“Given that it was our own African scientists who first detected the Omicron variant, it is also a slap in the face of African excellence and expertise,” he said.

The bans will cause untold damage to the travel and tourism industries in particular that sustain businesses and livelihoods in South Africa and the Southern African region.

The President used the opportunity again to call on the countries who have imposed these travel restrictions to urgently reconsider their decision.

Tomorrow, President Ramaphosa and the Ivorian Prime Minister will address a Business Forum that brings together business people to promote trade and investment between the two countries.

Source: South African Government News Agency