The Unemployed Youth Skills Development Project in Vhembe District Municipality has officially been launched in Thohoyandou, Limpopo.

The project which is a joint effort between the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) and the Department of Public Works (DPW), aims to empower South Africa’s youth through training in various skills that will better their prospects of employment in future.

Deputy Minister of DWS, Pamela Tshwete said that this kind of project will be rolled out throughout the country to ensure that South Africa adequately provides for the most needed skills in the administration and governance of the country’s municipalities.

This initiative is anchored on the shoulders of many critical partners such as the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), South African Local Government Association (SALGA), StatsSA, National Youth Skills Development Programme (NYSDP) and RUBBYTADT.

“DWS seeks to produce water and sanitation specialists in the form of technicians, artisans, plumbers, metre readers, blue drop and green drop managers, community facilitators, water resource managers and security personnel, planners and installers of smart water and sanitation infrastructure out of this programme,” the minister said.

Tshwete pointed out that municipalities have a responsibility to embrace this developmental process and incorporate it as part of their annual Integrated Development Plans (IDPs). “In addition to the resources provided by the Department of Public Works, individual municipalities must plan and budget for the ultimate takeover of this programme.”

Communities, as direct beneficiaries of this programme, will have a much bigger responsibility of monitoring both individual trainees and individual municipalities in the implementation of this programme.