Crowds of Gauteng’s unemployed flooded to Orlando Stadium, on Thursday, to secure job offers as part of Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi’s ‘Nasi Ispan‘ labour initiative.
Crowds of Gauteng unemployed flood to Orlando Stadium
In a bid to address South Africa’s unemployment woes, Gauteng Premier Lesufi launched a job programme aimed at creating labour opportunities for the youth and unemployed population.
On Thursday, images and videos surfaced on social media, showing large crowds of young hopefuls flooding Orlando Stadium where job offers for thousands of openings awaited.
It’s understood this cohort was invited to collect appointment letters for solar panel technician job opportunities.
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Premier Lesufi made the announcement of the 1 000 new job opportunities during a recent press conference.
The positions are open for application, and interested individuals have until 31 July 2023 to submit their applications.
The Premier emphasised the need for action over words, stating that the Nasi iSpani initiative is committed to providing tangible work opportunities.
“Unfortunately, which is very sad, for the 8 000 posts we advertised we received 1 230 092 applications. Of that total, 1 171 035 applications were received online. Through paper-based and the mass centres we received 359 057 applications. These are the people who went to community halls,” he said.
Age Restrictions and Youth Empowerment
The 8 000 jobs were initially reserved for individuals aged 35 years and younger, which sparked concerns among older unemployed individuals who felt excluded.
Premier Lesufi clarified that while the government aims to support people of all ages, the focus is on empowering the youth to secure their future.
He emphasised the need to address societal challenges, such as alcohol and drug abuse and gender-based violence, by providing young people with meaningful work opportunities.
“We are committed to support all ages but we can’t donate our future, the youth, to alcohol, drugs and gender-based violence. We have to take a stand and on this one I am unapologetic. More opportunities without age restrictions are coming,” said Lesufi.
Lesufi assured applicants that the selection process for the Nasi iSpani campaign would be transparent and based on merit, skills, experience, and qualifications.
The initiative aims to ensure equal treatment for all applicants, without any preference for specific political affiliations.
Responding to concerns about political favouritism, Premier Lesufi stressed that job appointments would not be influenced by political affiliations.
He stressed his commitment to creating job opportunities for all, regardless of their political background, and dispelled rumours about hiring ANC cadres without conducting interviews or proper selection processes.