GAUTENG Premier Panyaza Lesufi has promised to recruit 40 000 unemployed kasi people.
Delivering his State of the Province Address on Monday night, 19 February, he said his government wanted to change their lives.
“We will undertake this unprecedented programme by recruiting more than 40 000 unemployed township people who will be trained to be artisans, bricklayers, electricians, and plumbers in a programme called “iCrush le Lova” - a date with the unemployed,” said Lesufi.
He said all the recruits will be taken to TVET colleges and be enrolled in SETA programmes to be trained and supported and upon conclusion, they'll be directed to employment opportunities.
He said kasis remained special places to many people, but they were in a bad state.
He said in 2023, they committed to changing the face of kasis, squatter camps and hostels, were now taking the work to another level with their ambitious programme that will see the undeveloped four-roomed house in our kasis being changed.
Lesufi said: “Starting with indigent families, through this ANC government that I have the honour to lead, we will improve the conditions of these homes.”
He told Gauteng residents that the protracted electricity crisis has caused significant hardship for people and has had a detrimental effect on the growth of the province’s economy.
“Power shortages have a negative impact on the availability of healthcare services, food and water, the level of crime, and unemployment rates, among others,” he said.
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He claimed that although energy was not a competency of the province, load shedding’s crippling effect on the functionality of the state and its impact on society compelled them to intervene.
“After extensive consultation with the energy sector, we developed an energy crisis response plan in collaboration with the national energy committee, local government, and energy experts. This was followed by the announcement of R1,2 billion in funding that we made during the Sopa,” he said.
He reminded Gauteng residents that in his government’s efforts to address youth unemployment, they launched the Nasi iSpani mass recruitment programme on 16 June 2023.
He said he was proud that over 90 000 young people were employed through the programme.
Lesufi further said that as Gauteng, they had declared hunger and food insecurity as enemies of the people.
“I am happy to announce that we will launch an e-indigent register, which centres the child in our poverty alleviation strategy. The e-indigent register will fast-track our swift response and our consolidated efforts to eradicate urban hunger. All poor people in our province will register to access the pro-poor basket. We are also resuscitating the pro-poor basket for all our children,” he said.
On e-tollls, which he assured the people of Gauteng last year that they would be a thing of the past, Lesufi said they remained confident that they should be able end them by March.
The premier said the township economy was their new gold.
He said as part of reclaiming spaza shops, they have refurbished over 3 000 spaza shops across the Gauteng townships and established a digital township business registrar with over 20 000 township businesses already captured.
”The demand for rental stock in our townships continues to grow. Over 4 million people rent backrooms which provide much-needed additional income to township households, and our government is on the ground to support the growth of this economic sector. To date, 126 landlords have been supported with building loans resulting in 847 backyard units and the completion of 60 commercial units,” said Lesufi.
