Monday, 07 November 2022: On 27 October 2022, Eskom Medupi participated in the Waterberg FM-hosted unemployment dialogue aimed at collaboratively finding solutions to the high rate of unemployment affecting the communities of Lephalale.
Unemployment remains one of the biggest societal challenges that the country is facing. The town of Lephalale is counted among others that are adversely affected by this scourge. This statement was echoed by multitudes of unemployed youth that attended this second unemployment dialogue.
Eskom like other businesses and government departments and or subsidiaries doing business in Lephalale was invited to be part of the interview panel at the second Waterberg FM unemployment dialogue session. Other representatives on the panel were from Exxaro, the Department of Employment and Labour, Lephalale Local Municipality, and Mohlaloga Investments which is the new recruiting company for Exxaro.
Eskom reported that during the construction of the Medupi Power Station project, the issue of local recruitment was highly prioritised. A new model of community liaison was introduced to help speed up the processing of locals to work on the project. This model was widely embraced by Lephalale communities. However, the model has since been closed as the project is currently completing the finishing works that do not need more manpower like when the construction was at its peak.
As a state-owned enterprise, Eskom provides bursaries, apprenticeships, and learnership opportunities to contribute towards building skills the nation needs to advance the economic growth of the country. Additional information on bursaries was shared and is advertised on the Eskom website for qualifying learners. On supplier development issues, interested suppliers were encouraged to participate
in the upcoming Eskom Suppliers Forum to be conducted before the end of the year, wherein Eskom and some of its contractors will share upcoming business opportunities as well as procedures to do business with Eskom.
When engaging some of the locals after the dialogue, the 45-year-old Mr Kholela Majadibodu thanked Waterberg FM for organising this engagement as it affords them an opportunity to know what is happening in town. Majadibodu, a father of five thanked Medupi for changing his life for the better. He shared that he entered Medupi as a general worker back then in 2016 and has worked for four
subcontractors continuously; was able to build a house and has since bought two cars. The two cars include a bakkie that he is currently using to do odd jobs in his neighborhood. This according to him, affords him money to support his family while he is looking for a job.
The official unemployment rate according to Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), shows that the number of unemployed persons increased by 132 000 to 8,0 million in the second quarter of 2022 compared to the previous quarter. StatsSA’s latest quarterly results issued on 23 August 2022 show that the youth remain vulnerable in the labour market. The second quarter of 2022 saw the total number of unemployed youth (aged 15-34) increase by 2,0% (or 92,000) to 4,8 million from Q1:2022. There was a noticeable increase of 7,2% or 370 000 in the number of employed youths during the same period. The increase in both employment and unemployment among the youth resulted in a decrease in the youth unemployment
rate by 1,3 percentage points to 46,5% in Q2:20.