JOHANNESBURG – McDONALD’S South Africa is collaborating with the Culture, Arts, Tourism, Hospitality and Sport Sector Education and Training Authority (CATHSSETA) to train some 1 400 unemployed youth through a hospitality learnership programme.
This is a major boost to CATHSSETA’s recently-adopted High Impact Programme, which aims to empower unemployed individuals with skills that could open up job opportunities in the sector.
The overwhelming response to the learnership programme highlighted the urgent need for job creation in South Africa, according to officials, as demonstrated by 9 000 applications received, many of them from graduates.
McDonald’s role in the partnership includes recruitment. It has already enrolled 1 200 candidates for the learning programme.
The company has collaborated with Training Force, which focuses on delivering industry and job-specific skills assessments and training interventions to businesses.
Greg Solomon, Chief Executive Officer at McDonald’s SA, highlighted that hospitality did not feature prominently in the top 10 learnerships people talked about.
“The unemployment numbers among the youth are staggering, and as a responsible corporate citizen, we identified the need to bring CATHSSETA into the youth employment conversation,” he said.
Furthermore, McDonald’s has partnered with Job Jack to ensure a seamless recruitment process.
The CATHSSETA and McDonald’s programme offers blended training, combining classroom and on-the-job training and assessment, with courses such as Occupational Health, Safety and Security, Business Communication and Business Finance.
CATHSSETA is one of South Africa’s 21 Sector Education and Training Authorities, established under the Skills Development Act (No.97 of 1998).
Buti Manamela, Deputy Minister of Higher Education, hailed the partnership as one of the important interventions needed in South Africa to fight unemployment.
“While the education system can do a lot, I believe the private sector also needs to play a significant role, which is why this initiative is crucial,” Manamela said.
by MTHULISI SIBANDA
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