His worship, the Mayor Cllr Mzi Zuma has attended Day 1 of uMgungundlovu District Youth LED Summit that is taking place at Richmond Local Municipality Indoor Sports Complex. The Mayor set the scene and gave the purpose of the summit.
The event themed ” The New Normal” is attended by youth representatives from all 7 Local Municipalities under the District . The Summit is aimed at economically empowering the youth from communities around Umgungundlovu District. In attendance is also Richmond Mayor Cllr Ngcongo, Mshwathi Mayor, Cllr M Zondi, Deputy Mayor Cllr B Mbanjwa, , LED Chairperson Cllr S Mkhize and Community Chair Cllr Zungu from Umgungundlovu District Municipality.
In his address, the Mayor highlighted the challenges faced by the Municipality saying, ” Within the District, about 64% of the population lives below the poverty line, an a significant number of those is the youth ” He also indicated unemployment challenges .
The Mayor said, “There is a serious level of unemployment in the District, as we are sitting at 39%, and again the youth constitutes the majority of that number”.
He raised concerns about graduates who are unemployable. “The reason why we have unemployable graduates is because they possess qualifications or skills that are not required by the economy. Qualifications should speak to the demands by the economy.” said the Mayor.
Nxamalala further encouraged the youth to go to TVET colleges saying, “TVET colleges offer skills that empower people to be able to start their own small businesses, and not wait to be employed”
