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TimesLive reports that according to President Cyril Ramaphosa, the Presidential Employment Stimulus Programme (PESP) has reached the milestone of one-million participants since its inception.
The scheme was launched in October 2020 to create jobs and support livelihoods as part of supporting economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. Writing in his weekly newsletter on Monday, Ramaphosa said the achievement was due to a collaborative effort across the government and wider society, including the private sector, community-based organisations and others. Ramaphosa said the programme was needed to complement the recovery of the jobs market and went on to write: “As we pursue economic growth to deliver decent and sustainable employment at a much larger scale, we will continue to build on the success of the Presidential Employment Stimulus and expand its reach.” In the context where a lack of work experience was a major barrier to finding employment, the programmes were providing high-quality work experiences, Ramaphosa pointed out. For example, in the largest programme supported by the stimulus, nearly 600,000 young people had been placed as school assistants in more than 22,000 schools. In the creative sector, support was provided to people to create jobs for themselves and others. The PESP has also supported sustainable livelihoods with more than 140,000 subsistence farmers receiving production input vouchers to assist them to resume and expand production after the disruptions of Covid-19. The programme is also supporting graduates, with opportunities provided to nurses, science graduates, artisans and others. Ramaphosa called on businesses to hire the young people who gained work experience through the programme.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard at BusinessLive
- Read too, Almost 600 000 teaching assistants employed as part of Ramaphosa's jobs plan, at Fin24
- And also, Ramaphosa hails PESP impact, says it's still needed to complement jobs recovery, at EWN
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page