Mayor prioritizes skills development

By Libuseng Nyaka

QWAQWA-The executive mayor of Thabo Mofutsanana district municipality,  Conny Msibi, says new innovative methods and  equipping youth with skills and qualifications relevant to the  labour market are key in addressing unemployment.

Msibi said this in an interview with The Guard after her inauguration as executive mayor of Thabo Mofutsanyana district municipality.

She  said  this can be achieved through the involvement of other institutions such  as private sector and institutions of education in order to identify relevant skills needed in the labour market and  for job creation.

 “Through skills  development we can unlock job opportunities. It is time to change mindset and use our hands  to  generate income and  put bread on the table. Skills development is very crucial. Many of our children have studied and  acquired qualifications in different fields of studies but remain unemployed due to qualification that do not match labour and job markets.”

Msibi ‘s plan could soon be realized  through a plan to introduce  Central University  Technology (CUT) QwaQwa campus in Maluti-A-phofung with  talks at advanced stage.

Both management of  Maluti-A-Phofung local municipality and CUT have already held meeting where they discussed on the way forward, during a meeting held at municipality on November 10, 2020.

The  CUT delegation was led by the deputy vice-chancellor for Research, Innovation, and Engagements, Professor Alfred Ngowi in response to the request made by Maluti-a-Phofung municipal manager Futhudi Mothamaha.

Mothamaha, described the establishment of a CUT campus in Maluti-A-Phofung   as an  opportunity that will offer skills  in the areas of Engineering, Sciences, Technology, and Health Sciences.

Meanwhile during an interview with the public broadcast weighing on how South Africa can reinvent and move forward from the current situation, world council for graduates Thamsanqa Maqubela has this say,

“With 1.2 million unemployed graduates’ mindset must be changed . We cannot have graduates who say we do not know what to do, while we have so many people with less than a matric looking up to them for solutions.”

Strategy director at Yellowwood  Ntombizamasala Hlophe  has this to say:  

“Change strategies and primarily focus on encouraging entrepreneurship. The young people focus on different forms of income generation rather just formal employment and I can appreciate that for South Africa we do have increased especially because we want security that comes with formal jobs employment. Almost 60 percent of young people  is already in entrepreneurial jobs.”