By: Zethu Gweva
Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality Youth Council is an organisation which was formed to adhere to the needs and to deliver services to the youth of the metro.
The new BCMM Youth Council was elected on the Sixth of March where 19 members were elected to be part of the council. All the newly elected members of the BCMM Youth have specific tasks designated to them, which play a role in developing young people of the metro.
To ensure that people are aware of the BCMM Youth Council, the BCMM Youth Council Deputy Chairperson Lwando Pisane said they embark on roadshows and use various media platforms to make known of their existence.
According to Pisane, the newly elected structure plans to equip the youth of the metro with knowledge and skills. As the world approaches the fourth industrial revolution, he said they plan to prepare the youth for the revolution.
“We have sat and discussed the skills programmes which are in the BCM and how people of the metro align with those certain skills and further skill them about the digital space,” said Pisane.
Pisane explained that the newly elected structure will work on getting the skilled and unskilled youth of the metro jobs. He said they want the unskilled and unemployed youth to be placed in the Expanded Public Works Program (EPWP) and to work for the municipality permanently if possible.
He added that they assist those who have passed their matric to apply for bursaries at the municipality. “We will not only focus on the EPWP but also those with grade 12, we will sit in the bursary committee and ensure that the people who receive these bursaries are people from the BCMM,” he said.
Pisane said the youth should take responsibility and ensure that they curb poverty and crime around the city. He added that the elderly must retire from their positions and allow young people an opportunity to be employed.