​Lerato Mailoane and SAnews
Government is calling on all unemployed Gauteng residents to sign up for the jobs and skills programme. 
The public can go to their nearest school or community hall on 13 and 14 April 2024 to register for the programme.
A partnership between the Gauteng government and the Department of Employment and Labour over the weekend launched the iCrush no Lova: Jobs and skills programme which has over 480 000 job opportunities for anyone who looking to further their skills whilst getting paid. The programme was launched at the Nasrec Expo Centre on Saturday.
The Department of Employment and Labour, through its entity, the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), has entered into a partnership with private business, SETAs and NGOs to create thousands of employment opportunities for residents of Gauteng.
In attendance was Gauteng Premier, Panyaza Lesufi, Minister for the Department of Employment and Labour, Thulas Nxesi, Deputy Minister for the Department of Employment and Labour, Boitumelo Moloi and MEC for Infrastructure, Human Settlement, Lebogang Maile and senior government officials.
Addressing the media launch Premier, Panyaza Lesufi said: "We are giving you tomorrow to clean your documents, we don't need your age (whether you are 35 or above 35) come, zwakala we are looking for you, that's if you are ready to go on a programme for either two to three years."
Lesufi said the province has created several jobs opportunities but the numbers of the unemployed haven't been going down.
During last year's launch of Nasi Ispani close to 13 000 permanent jobs were advertised and 1.6 million applications were received.
"We took a decision those that were not successful we are not going to write regret letters to them we went on an overdrive to find opportunities. I am proud today that we are taking almost 500 000 people out of poverty.
"If you want to be a plumber, we will train you and whilst you are training and we will give you a stipend and once your training is completed, we will place you in a job," said Lesufi.
In his keynote address, the Minister for Employment and Labour, Thulas Nxesi said an amount of R8.4 billion has been set aside to implement 105 jobs and skills programmes in over 22 sectors, including agriculture, services, IT, construction, engineering, wholesale and retail, safety and security, hospitality, social services, textile and transport in Gauteng.
The Gauteng launch is part of a R23.8 billion national job creation plan that will be rolled out over the next couple of weeks to create more than 700 000 employment opportunities throughout the country. The opportunities will run between 12 and 36 months.
"It is very important that we respond to the challenge of unemployment, and plan together to implement strategies to mitigate it on an ongoing basis. We believe that government, working together with all stakeholders, has a major role to play in mitigating unemployment, and creating and preserving jobs," said the Minister.
Nxesi said that only substantial economic growth and development will rescue the country from the huge unemployment challenge.
The launch was attended by labour activation programme beneficiaries, project owners, various MECs from the provincial government, as well as senior government officials.
Participants that will be hired and trained in the programme will be selected through the Department of Employment and Labour's Employment Services of South Africa database (ESSA).
For registration, members of the public can register on the database using the following website: https://essa.labour.gov.za.