Betty Moleya
Pretoria - Young people from Mabopane, Winterveldt and Soshanguve marched to Sunbake, at Mabopane industrial site, yesterday to ask for jobs.
Under the “Knock and Drop My CV” programme they also called for companies to stop hiring foreign nationals. The march started at Mabopane Cashbuild.
One of the organisers, Thabiso Zito Mahlangu, said as youth activists they were able to identify unemployment as major obstacle in their communities.
“We have economic hubs where foreigners and family members of management are being hired. Sunbake is just a few blocks from Mabopane and Winterveldt and must hire people from those areas.”
Mahlangu said Sunbake failed to hire people living in areas next to the business. “When our young people bring CVs here they are told these are crime-ridden areas; they refer to our young people as criminals,” he said.
Bokamoso Aphane said poverty was worsened by unemployment. “The core of poverty is unemployment; no money means no economic freedom and no economic freedom means no freedom at all.
“We decided to come to the industrial area because we want them to employ young people.”
Aphane said Sunbake must do right by the community and hire them.
The youth handed over a memorandum to a senior official at Sunbake. The official promised the company would respond in seven days as demanded by the group.
In the memorandum, the group asked for 100 young people to be hired by Sunbake with immediate effect.
Jabulile Tsotetsi said: “We want all youth to work so they can stop doing drugs and stealing. At least if they work they will be able to fight unemployment and afford things they need.”
The group said they would be visiting other companies in the areas with the same demand.
On Tuesday, Operation Dudula joined forces with Put South Africa First and escalated its campaign to the Rosslyn industrial area to demand that big companies stopped employing undocumented foreign nationals.
It targeted Praga Technical (Pty) Ltd and Afrit Trailers, alleging they were among some of the big companies employing “ghost employees”, many of whom were undocumented foreign nationals.
Praga Technical denied the allegations and said of its 801 employees, 11 were documented foreign nationals. Afrit said it would have to look at the company structures to verify statutes and go through the relevant legislation as requested.
Pretoria News