03 June 2020
This Youth Month, MultiChoice Group
(MCG) is proud to announce its partnership with the Youth Employment Service
(YES) initiative which has resulted in the creation of 400 new job
opportunities. In addition, MCG has created 100 sports coaching learnerships
through its Let’s Play initiative. The two partnerships equate to a total
investment of R50 million towards putting 500 South African youth to work.
These young people will be employed in
industries that include telecommunication, human resource management,
engineering, satellite communication, coaching and ICT. In addition, the
opportunity has been spread to youngsters across different provinces, including
Eastern Cape, Free State, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape and North West.
“We have a long history of supporting
and investing in programmes that are skewed towards the youth,” says Calvo
Mawela, MultiChoice Group Chief Executive Officer. “Through a host of corporate
social investment programmes, education, skills development, enterprise
development, and sports development initiatives, we are helping to shape a new
generation of South Africans who are ready to lead the continent into the next
era.”
The harsh reality is that by the end
of 2019, approximately 60% of South Africa’s employable youth were without jobs
and, within an economy that was experiencing slow to no growth, prospects were
limited. This has been further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic which has
seen the economies of developed, and developing, countries brought to their
knees. Now, more than ever, job creation and skills development has become
absolutely crucial.
The YES
initiative is a business-led collaboration with government to
create work opportunities for unemployed black South Africans between the ages
of 18 and 35. Through the MultiChoice partnership, candidates in the initiative
will be given new electronic devices, such as laptops, so that they can fully
participate in training.
Dr Tashmia Ismail-Saville, Chief
Executive Officer of YES, says: “MultiChoice is pioneering the behaviours we
need to see all companies display in the future, as it embraces true
transformation. This COVID-19-battered economy is seeing unprecedented job
losses and economic fallout and youth are once again going to bear the brunt of
this catastrophe. We cannot afford to leave another generation behind. The
MultiChoice YES project is a perfect example of meaningful transformation and
how companies can support the country’s way out of the crisis by creating employment
opportunities and incomes so desperately needed for our communities to emerge
less bruised.”
The Let’s Play Physical Education
Challenge has, over the past five years, become one of the Department of Basic
Education’s flagship school enrichment programmes. Through this programme, more
than 100 000 primary school learners have – during the past two years – been
encouraged to adopt physical activity as a lifestyle. The initiative has also
equipped Life Orientation teachers with the tools they need to become better
Physical Education implementers.
“Our business is all about enriching
lives and creating magic; creating spaces where people can imagine and live
their dreams,” says Mawela. “It is an incredible opportunity to be able to
translate this magic into something that will benefit the youth of South Africa
who will soon be entering the workforce and contributing to our economy. By
investing in, and developing the youth of South Africa, MultiChoice is helping
to shape the industries of the future.”
Source: https://www.multichoice.com/media/news/multichoice-says-yes-to-investing-in-the-future-of-youth/
