Tourism Imbizo gears up youth for substantial opportunities
On the photo: Mr Fana Mlombo, Mpumalanga Legislature Chief Whip, Cllr. Nhlakanipho Zuma, Executive Mayor of Govan Mbeki Local Municipality, Ms Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, Minister of Tourism and Cllr. Fikile Nyembe, Speaker of the Govan Mbeki Local Municipality
Scores of young people and the community of Secunda in Mpumalanga province had an unsurpassed opportunity to engage government leaders, when the Department of Tourism led by Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane hosted the Youth in Toursim Imbizo in the area. The purpose of the Imbizo was to unveil programmes and other linked opportunities offered by government, particularly the tourism sector, and how can the youth play a part in benefiting from these programmes.
Held in Govan Mbeki Local Municipality, which has a significant number of unemployed people and a big chunk of them being the youth, many young people during the engaegements with government raised a whole range of concerns, ranging substance abuse, availed opportunity and access to information amongst other issues
This comes as the country is battling with COVID19 pandemic, which already saw the closure of business activities and tourism being one of the most affected by the pandemic, forcing the sector to completely shutdown during the hard lockdown to avert the spread of the virus. As a significant sector, tourism plays an important role in the country’s economy that employs quite a significant number of jobs, fighting unemployment and poverty.
On the photo: Minister of Tourism, Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane at the Youth in Tourism Imbizo in Secunda.
Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane outlined key programmes that the tourism department have for young people, SMME’s, women and people with disabilities. These programmes include Simunye Training program that assist the youth in hospitality training (cooking and wine tasting), leadership training and/or incubation for women which is a result of partnership with UNISA and a number of funding mechanisms including the newly established Tourism Equity Fund that can be accessed from the department
The significance of youth in the sector is the most important one, and this can not be done without aligning these opportunities with the necessary set of skills to take advantage of the availed opportunities.
Executive Mayor of Govan Mbeki Local Municipality, Cllr. Nhlakanipho Zuma, emphasized on the access of information and availing this critical information to young people by equipping communities with the relevant platforms where it can be easily and transparent to gain valuable information on the programs of government and private sector.
The Executive Mayor also touched on the skills and education aspect of equipping the young people of the area by partnering with higher education institutions and corporate sector that operates in the province, to propel excellence in equipping the youth with the right skills needed by the country.
The Imbizo forms part of the department’s commitment on solidification of the sector, bringing forth a large portion of the youth to be the major players in the economy. Prior to this, Minister Kubayi-Ngubane together with a delegation from local, provincial government and the legislature – visited Charles Cilliers in Embalenhle, a local NGO looking after the victims of gender-based violence. The center caters for women victims of all ages, and also provide these women with skills to develop themselves like sewing, baking, amongst others.
It is thus for this reason that government fulfils commitments made to the community, prioritize service delivery by continue engaging one another on matters that will advance communities to fight poverty and unemployment – and to ensure we have a drug-free society, uproot gender-based violence, crime and corruption.
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