Program Director Reverend Sibanyoni and Chief Director Provincial Office

The Deputy Minister of Employment and Labour Honourable Moloi

The Executive Mayor of Thulamahashe, Councillor Sylvia Nxumalo

The Different Houses of Traditional Leaders led by Kgoshi Lameck Mokoena

The Councillors from different Municipalities under the Ehlanzeni District

The Senior Officials from the Department of Employment and Labour Head Office, the Provincial Office and the various Labour Centres

Exhibitors from other Government departments, Government Entities, the Private Sector

The Leadership of Business, Trade Unions, Community organisations

Our Very Important Guests for today

Good Morning, Dumelang, Avuxeni, Sanibonani

Thank you very much for heeding our call to attend this Careers Fair early this year, 2024, as many companies are still reopening after the festive season.

We have arranged this session, as an attempt to put systemic solutions in place that produce results that are aligned to the needs of the employers, in the Ehlanzeni District, Mpumalanga and the broader South African economy. I value your participation in the Careers Fair and hope that you will also access other government and private sector services that we are here to offer today.

I specially thank Executive Mayor Sylvia Nxumalo and the Municipality for the support of Department of Employment and Labour' (DEL) in the bringing services to the people endeavour. Today's service delivery event demonstrates that, if we come together, from National, Provincial, District and Municipality levels, we can achieve more as a collective in providing services to our people. I want to encourage all work-seekers to grab every available job opportunity and the career information that you are going to receive from the various stalls, and use it as a stepping stone to your desired jobs in this constrained jobs environment. 

We started these service delivery initiatives that are, by the way, part of the normal day to day activities in our offices on Monday the 08^th January at Bushbuckridge, Dwaarsloop and Mkhuhlu. On Tuesday the 09^th January 2024, we were at Acornhoek, Saselani and Belfast. Yesterday, on Wednesday the 10^th January, we were at Shatali, Hluvukani and Casteel.

The total number of people who came to register as work-seekers and provided with employment counselling services were 1 111. We are hoping that with the assistance that was provided to work seekers to apply for various opportunities, within the coming weeks, the majority will be contacted and assisted to prepare for interviews with prospective employers in the province and beyond.

We also received a total of 1244 applications for UIF and enquiries, and where all documents were complete, payments were effected. We also received and processed 68 applications and enquiries for Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Deceases.

We also conducted a 39 inspections across the Ehlanzeni District to check compliance by employers in this region with our legislation. I am concerned about the lower levels of compliance and have already instructed the Inspector General to conduct more Blitz inspections in this region.

 To the majority of young people in this tent today, I want you to know that there is “No Job that is a dirty job"; there is no job that is too lowly – that is how we start out to gain experience and work our way up from the bottom.

We used to sing 'my mother was a kitchen girl, my father was a garden boy' – but today, we are men and women holding various positions in government, the private sector and some are running their own businesses, whilst others are employed in various work places - because of what our parents did for us. Taking an entry level job might lead to processes of discovery of talents and skills that you have. You will never know what you are good at unless you try.

Give yourself time even if it is beyond today, to talk to our employment practitioners and counsellors, for advice. Seek out mentors and trusted people that can help you during your job search journey. This will help you to build confidence in your abilities and fuel your desire to make a change, as you realise that you want to work and grow. The best advice I can offer you today, is for you to take personal responsibility, have a growth mind-set, be future orientated, and have perseverance: as Nelson Mandela once said, “it all seems impossible until it's done."

Our labour laws forbid private employment agencies and temporary employment service organisations from charging you as work seekers any fees for assisting you to find employment. Please stop giving these organisations and mafias your parent's hard earned cash to buy employment. For the common interest of everyone, report unscrupulous agencies that charge you fees to labour inspectors and the police.  The law prescribes that these services are free of charge and you must not pay a cent to anyone. Be aware of the scams that are now operating on social media. Stay away from anything that promises you a job on condition that you pay a certain fee. If it is too good to be true, you are going to lose your money.

The DEL systems, and those of our partners in the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative such as the Youth Mobi, the Higher Education KHETHA, and those of Private Employment Agencies registered with the DEL, are digital and can be accessed remotely from anywhere, in line with trends in other countries.

The mobile units that we secured with the assistance of the European Union that are outside this tent, are an example of technology as it progresses. They incorporate laptops that are used by our counsellors and employment practitioners for on-site counselling and life-skills advice. We have all our systems available online but we know that data costs remain too high and we are trying to find the best solution to that. We have introduced these vehicles, to reach out to remote rural and urban communities that find it difficult to access our Employment and Labour Centres and these mobile units are equipped to provide all DEL online services.

Tomorrow, we have a session with Employers and Trade Unions at the Emnothweni Sun, eMbombela. Our aim, is to address their concerns and to further clarify certain aspects of our labour laws. We will also share with them briefly the outcomes of our findings in the different municipalities of the Enhlanzeni District. All this is done as part of our initiative to encourage them to create employment for our people and to assist us to eradicate poverty and inequality.

I wish you all the best in the Career Fair activities during the rest of the day and hope that you will make good use of the information that you are going to receive.  I formally declare the Careers Fair Open.

I thank you, Baie dankie, Siyabonga​

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