South Africa’s economy has taken a hard hit during the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving a lot of people unemployed. To assist those who are looking for jobs, the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) recently launched a database for unemployed youth, professionals and artisans across the country.
The database will be used to capture and store information on these unemployed groups to find out the country’s available capacity to deliver on Integrated Infrastructure Projects in the specific areas. Preference will be given to females of all races and citizens can register on the database which can be found on the DPWI website.
“The DPWI unemployed database is aimed at supporting the government’s infrastructure priorities for economic growth beyond Covid-19. The database will be used in different projects by prioritizing available registered people in that district where the project is being implemented,” said DPWI spokesperson Thami Mchunu.
According to Mchunu, “During the active stages of the Infrastructure Strategic Projects, individuals who have been recruited from the Unemployed Youth Database will also get on-the-job training opportunities, including Work Integrated Learning Programme for National Accredited Technical Education Diploma (NATED) students and university of technology students, who require experiential training to obtain their qualification.
Moreover, the new platform will also include a graduate internship to expose graduates to work experience to strengthen employment opportunities, trade certification for construction trades and candidacy programmes towards Built Environment Professional Registration, among others.“Qualified professionals and artisans will be registered for job opportunities within the Infrastructure Strategic Projects,” confirmed Mchunu.
To register on the database, applicants can visit www.publicworks.gov.za and click on ‘Programmes DPWI Unemployed Database for Infrastructure Skills’.
