More than 200 unemployed residents of Kroonstad were funded by Impact Catalyst, a non-profit organisation, to help Kroonstad with clean-up and maintenance programmes for the next eight months.
“We are pleased to have been able to deploy over 200 unemployed persons in Kroonstad since the end of September to focus on recycling, cleaning, and greening of the environment. Our local partner, the Sernick Group, has been instrumental in mobilising communities for these job opportunities,” says Rhiyaan Cupido, programme manager of Impact Catalyst.
The organisation aims to teach new skills to the unemployed, making them more employable after the programme.
Residents of Kroonstad who have been unemployed for, on average, five to ten years were offered an eight-month job opportunity in which they can learn various skills. After the eighth months, they will receive certificates for their training.
The selected 200-plus general workers are divided into ten teams that work at the Kroonstad central business district, Kroontad Golf Club, Calling Education School, Trio High School, the North High School, Noordweg, Suidweg, Jordania, the Kroonstad Industrial Area and Green Kids SA, and are also involved in the river rehabilitation project.
The workers do general cleaning, painting, and landscaping.
Impact Catalyst has signed a grant agreement with the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) to implement a programme called the Social Employment Fund, creating new skills and job opportunities.
The company is in the process of onboarding over 4 000 beneficiaries across five different provinces, with work spread out over nine months.
