Canaan Mdletshe

Canaan Mdletshe

The KwaZulu-Natal department of social development has recruited 347 young people to be trained as social workers, especially in the rural areas.

Social development MEC Meshack Hadebe said the recruits would be trained in social work and other related fields to ensure that they brought sustainable social services to their respective areas.

"The young people were recruited from all the municipalities in the province because we want to ensure that each and every area is represented.

"Our province is one of the neediest and I am certain that this project will make a great deal of difference," Hadebe said.

He said that next year they would recruit another group for training.

"We will train some of them overseas and they will come back to train others. Some of them are unemployed graduates and others have matric. In a way, we are also fighting unemployment while at the same time encouraging young people to become social workers."

Hadebe said the group would not only work in the field of social work but in other fields that dealt directly with societal needs.

One of the recruits, Mlungisi Mji, said he was grateful for the opportunity to make a difference in his community. He said working with people had always been his passion.

"I would like to encourage other young people to take such opportunities whenever they are presented to them. It's always good to work for and around your community, to make a difference in the lives of the people you grew up with, especially the older and the most vulnerable," Mji said.