Labour Director-General urges young whites to join the civil service
12 Jul 2012
The Labour Department Director-General has reiterated the call for young white people to see the civil service as an employer of choice as part of transforming the workplace in South Africa.
Nkosinathi Nhleko was addressing a Youth Symposium focusing on building infrastructure and fighting youth unemployment, poverty and inequality in Bela-Bela, Limpopo, on Thursday.
"One finds it uncomfortable that young white people are not taking advantage of the transformative goals of Employment Equity in the same way as minority groups in Britain shied from the public service more than 200 years ago. Our structure in the civil service as it stands is clearly not reflective of the country's demographics," Nhleko said.
Turning to the filling of vacancies in the department, the Director General said focus should also be given to young people with disability.
He said there was need to orientate the filling of vacant posts in the new financial year with young people as part of the department's contribution to job creation and reducing youth unemployment in particular., He said of the 4.5 million unemployed people in South Africa, 3.2 million of those are youth.
Nhleko however, told the audience of just over 100 that youth also goes with responsibility and discipline. He also paid tribute to the youth of 1976 for having created a turning point in the history of South Africa. "By standing for principle, the youth of 76 enabled us to find ourselves as human beings," he said.
David Bayever, Deputy Chairperson of the Central Drug Authority at the University of the Witwatersrand Medical School, said time has come for the advertising of alcohol in sport to be banned.
"Alcohol is completely incongruent with what sport is supposed to be. We should also shatter the myth that there is such a thing as responsible drinking. In as much as we do not give a diabetic sugar we do not give an alcoholic alcohol," Bayever said.
Statement issued by Page Boikanyo, Department of Labour, July 12 2012
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