Johannesburg mayor Parks Tau has announced plans to assist the estimated one million young people in the city who are not in employment‚ education or training.
In his state of the city address‚ he announced the rollout of Vulindlel‘ eJozi‚ which he said aims to break down barriers to opportunities for 200‚000 youth by 2016.
“This programme will begin with screening‚ assessment and advisory services for all candidates. This will extend into foundation literacy‚ numeracy and digital literacy for all who participate to raise their earning potential‚” he said.
The programme will then identify and create opportunities for young people based on their aptitudes and capabilities.
These will include formal employment in companies of all sizes‚ public works programmes‚ national youth service programmes and micro-enterprise development channels such as Jozi@work. The programme will also facilitate the placement of appropriate candidates in training and education programmes.
Under a new partnership with the University of Johannesburg‚ groups of young people will also have access to a Digital Ambassadors programme.
“Over the coming months‚ as we accelerate the rollout of our free public Wi-Fi hotspots announced last year‚ we will also deploy 3‚000 young people‚ grouped as micro-companies‚ to provide digital literacy training. This is the bridge we are building across the digital divide.”
Tau‚ who estimated the city’s population at 4.8 million people‚ said “we carry the burden of knowing that over 50 % of those people have no regular access to the Internet. Digital access is becoming as much an equity issue in our society as access to water and electricity”.
He announced‚ “We are in the process of blanketing Braamfontein with Wi-Fi that provides high-speed broadband access‚ parts of which are live right now.
This goes beyond hotspot access at specific buildings and demonstrates how public Wi-Fi can work across a wide area. In this mecca of youthful activity‚ the Wi-Fi mesh will become a showcase for how subsidised access to Internet means access to opportunity and education”.
The mayor also promised:
- Quicker response and repair times for the city’s robots‚ saying that 75% of the traffic lights are now on a Remote Monitoring System.
- To incentivise and regulate the installation of low-flush toilets and water-saving urinals as a standard feature in Joburg homes‚ offices and commercial sites‚ given that SA is a water-scarce country.
- Harnessing energy from the water flowing through our pipe system city-wide‚ using in-pipe turbines. “Taking advantage of the opportunities presented by our investments in waste separation‚ we will be diverting organic waste to bio-digesters in order to harvest gas for fuel and energy‚ adding material from the sewerage system.”
- Converting most of the 250‚000 tons of rubble collected from illegal dumpsites into a new form of stone paper. “Using this approach we will unlock value in such rubble and subsidise the cost of removing it‚” the mayor said.
Johannesburg City aims to harness water for electricity and grow jobs for youth
Johannesburg mayor Parks Tau has announced plans to assist the estimated one million young people in the city who are not in employment‚ education or training.
In his state of the city address‚ he announced the rollout of Vulindlel‘ eJozi‚ which he said aims to break down barriers to opportunities for 200‚000 youth by 2016.
“This programme will begin with screening‚ assessment and advisory services for all candidates. This will extend into foundation literacy‚ numeracy and digital literacy for all who participate to raise their earning potential‚” he said.
The programme will then identify and create opportunities for young people based on their aptitudes and capabilities.
These will include formal employment in companies of all sizes‚ public works programmes‚ national youth service programmes and micro-enterprise development channels such as Jozi@work. The programme will also facilitate the placement of appropriate candidates in training and education programmes.
Under a new partnership with the University of Johannesburg‚ groups of young people will also have access to a Digital Ambassadors programme.
“Over the coming months‚ as we accelerate the rollout of our free public Wi-Fi hotspots announced last year‚ we will also deploy 3‚000 young people‚ grouped as micro-companies‚ to provide digital literacy training. This is the bridge we are building across the digital divide.”
Tau‚ who estimated the city’s population at 4.8 million people‚ said “we carry the burden of knowing that over 50 % of those people have no regular access to the Internet. Digital access is becoming as much an equity issue in our society as access to water and electricity”.
He announced‚ “We are in the process of blanketing Braamfontein with Wi-Fi that provides high-speed broadband access‚ parts of which are live right now.
This goes beyond hotspot access at specific buildings and demonstrates how public Wi-Fi can work across a wide area. In this mecca of youthful activity‚ the Wi-Fi mesh will become a showcase for how subsidised access to Internet means access to opportunity and education”.
The mayor also promised:
- Quicker response and repair times for the city’s robots‚ saying that 75% of the traffic lights are now on a Remote Monitoring System.
- To incentivise and regulate the installation of low-flush toilets and water-saving urinals as a standard feature in Joburg homes‚ offices and commercial sites‚ given that SA is a water-scarce country.
- Harnessing energy from the water flowing through our pipe system city-wide‚ using in-pipe turbines. “Taking advantage of the opportunities presented by our investments in waste separation‚ we will be diverting organic waste to bio-digesters in order to harvest gas for fuel and energy‚ adding material from the sewerage system.”
- Converting most of the 250‚000 tons of rubble collected from illegal dumpsites into a new form of stone paper. “Using this approach we will unlock value in such rubble and subsidise the cost of removing it‚” the mayor said.
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