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Pretoria News reports that people, and not mathematics, build cars at the Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa in Pretoria. This was asserted by unemployed persons who marched from Mamelodi, Eersterust and Nellmapius on Tuesday to the carmaker and the Tshwane Automotive Special Economic Zone to demand work opportunities.
The group staged a similar march a few weeks ago. They reacted adversely to the company’s representative Shibishi Maruatona, who said many young people from the communities did not study maths as required at job-entry level. However, the protesters, led by Tshwane Bahlali Dudula, urged Ford to remove the pure mathematics prerequisite “because a majority of pupils in high schools in surrounding communities were not doing pure mathematics”. They argued that the requirement was not scientific and isolated young people from job opportunities. In their view, they could learn to build a car, operate machines and organise and deliver tools and equipment regardless of their maths skills. Maruatona upset the crowd when he told them that Ford, although employing a lot of people from local communities, did not have job opportunities at the moment. He said they were willing to work with the leaders to ensure they were involved in the recruitment when opportunities arose. Leader and march organiser, Khutso Smesh Semetjane, said they would not sign the document Maruatona read to them because they did not agree with what Ford was saying. The marchers did, however, sign an agreement with the Tshwane Automotive Special Economic Zone. Its representative, Zama Ndebele, said they had heard the plight of the marchers and would work with them to create opportunities immediately.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by James Mahlokwane at Pretoria News
- See too, Youths ask to get local jobs, on page 8 of The Citizen of 17 August 2022
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page