The Gauteng Social Development MEC, Faith Mazibuko, has encouraged graduates not to neglect their families once they have jobs but to ensure that they create better living conditions for them as well.
Speaking to about 344 graduates during a two-day Gauteng Provincial Government Mass Graduation ceremony at the Brixton Multi-Purpose Centre, the graduation was held under the theme “Empowering Futures, Celebrating Achievements.”

Mazibuko said, “It is the inspiration of Premier Panyaza Lesufi through Nasi iSpani and the iCrush Nolova jobs platform linking youth to dynamic career opportunities that we celebrate your achievements today together with your families. Do not forget where you come from; instead, aspire to achieve more in life.”

One of the beneficiaries, Tsholofelo Tele, from Bambisandla Sam, a Carltonville-based non-profit organization that helps improve employability through accredited youth development programs, said, “I’m delighted to have come so far. When I was 18 years old, I was a troubled soul who experimented with drugs and stole from the community until I was arrested in 2022.

Upon my release, I was booked into a rehabilitation center for six weeks and later went into a year-long aftercare program, which introduced me to various workshops.”

She further stated, “I was later employed as a waitress, but my passion for acting has always been there. Hence, I have already done acting roles on Moja Love TV shows and have started a female center that bears testimony to what God can do in people’s lives.”

The graduates were sourced from Departmental Regional (Corridor) Centers of Excellence targeting rehabilitated youth, unemployed youth, and welfare recipients by offering young men and women an opportunity to change the course of their lives through training for a specific skill, developing entrepreneurial skills, or receiving in-depth life skills. The rehabilitated youth were recruited from halfway houses.

The youth to be honored were trained in, to mention a few, solar installation, paving, handyman skills, welding, hospitality, computer proficiency, beauty services, renewable energy technologies, and security.