As part of its commitment to the inclusive advancement of society through youth empowerment in South Africa, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has entered into a partnership with the Youth Employment Service (YES) to prepare young people for employment by providing them with technical skills and relevant work opportunities.

The CSIR and YES recently signed a Sponsored Host Placement Agreement that would see them working closely together in addressing the pressing issue of equipping South African youth with skills that will prepare them for the workplace.

The YES initiative, which is a business-led collaboration with government and labour to create job opportunities for the youth, was launched by President Cyril Ramaphosa, in March 2018, to combat youth unemployment in the country.

The two organisations believe that the collaboration will also accelerate South Africa’s transition into a knowledge-based economy. The partnership, which will run for one year, will see the creation of 66 job opportunities by the CSIR for the youth.  

Some of the youth will be based at the CSIR and some will be hosted through Youth@Work, a vetted YES implementation partner , and will be employed in various roles, including as mathematics and science teaching assistants; IT assistants in digital learning laboratories; computer coding facilitators; and digital learning facilitators at schools and municipal institutions, such as local libraries.

“What is particularly exciting about these jobs is that they dovetail perfectly with our goal of preparing South Africa for the fourth industrial revolution,” says YES CE Dr Tashmia Ismail-Saville.

CSIR CEO, Dr Thulani Dlamini says, “It is in the CSIR’s best interest that we invest in the development of the youth in our society. Unfortunately, South Africa has a very high level of unemployed youth, which does not bode well for the future of our country. Young people are the future. Therefore, we need to ensure that they are given opportunities to make a meaningful contribution to society and commerce. This partnership with YES is in addition to our human capital development initiatives, which are also focused on young people.”

“It is a real privilege to be able to assist another group of young South Africans as they enter the workforce, especially in these uncertain times. We look forward to sharing the stories of change and impact over the next 12 months,” says Erica Kempken from Youth@Work.

YES has already proven itself to be one of the true innovators in South Africa, generating over R1.4 billion in youth salaries across 35 000 jobs in its first year of operation. The not-for-profit organisation, which has no government funding, has been supported by over 1 010 businesses since inception.

Ismail-Saville concludes, “We appreciate the CSIR being the first major state-owned enterprise (SOE) to take the leap and commit to YES, and we look forward to engaging other SOEs and helping to create the jobs of tomorrow.”

Issued by the CSIR and YES

For enquiries:

David Mandaha: CSIR Media Relations Manager
Tel: 012 841 3654
Mobile: 072 126 8910
Email: dmandaha@csir.co.za

     OR

Marc Ashton: YES Marketing and Business Development Consultant
Tel: 010 140 7920 
Mobile: 082 561 1585
Email: marc@yes4youth.co.za