READER LETTER | Gauteng off target on green jobs

While unemployment soars and residents struggle to make ends meet, the Gauteng department of agriculture and rural development has consistently failed to meet targets set for the creation of green jobs.

Green jobs aim to reduce the consumption of energy and raw materials, limit greenhouse gas, reduce waste, pollution and restore the ecosystem. It also plays a critical role in reducing climate change. 

The department has not met its target of creating 100 green jobs, the same disappointing scenario from the 2021/2022 financial year. 

The MEC for agriculture and rural development, Mbali Hlope, indicated in a written reply to our questions tabled in the Gauteng provincial legislature of the annual target of 1,120 green jobs target, that only 156 had been created. 

This is worrying given the fact that green jobs have the potential to be used as a means to convert waste into energy, which will go a long way to minimise rolling blackouts in the province.

The failure to achieve green job targets in the past two quarters highlights the department's sluggish response and it is highly unlikely that it will achieve its annual target of creating 600 green jobs for this financial year. 

Creating green jobs is vital if we want to address climate change and the rehabilitation of our wetlands. 

• Jade Miller, MPL and DA Gauteng spokesperson for agriculture and rural development